Shiver
by ArtfulSunGodJustified
Summary: At a safe house, waiting for a new mission that requires all five former Gundam pilots to complete, our five favorite teens find themselves trapped inside an unforgotten tragedy of Duo's past. When the dead can't let go, will it tear apart the lives of the living? This story takes place after the war is over, and the gundams are destroyed. Contains some Duo/Heero.
1. Chapter 1: Injuries and Pride

**I love Gundam Wing with a passion. Like. Wow. I love it sooooo much. Duo is my favorite character. His background interests me like no other thing, and I ship Duo X Heero all the way so... yeah... this had to be done.**

**Anyway. I hope you all enjoy this. It's my first Gundam W fic so I hope it's to your liking :)**

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_Chapter 1: Injuries and Pride._

Heero Yui sat on the brown leather couch at the latest safe house meet up point. All of the five former gundam pilots were to report to the safe house before they were assigned their mission.

He had finished his previous mission with no problems, and was the first to arrive at their designated meeting spot. So now he sat alone in the night darkened living room, lit only by the brightness from the screen of his laptop.

He had typed up his mission report last night, after he'd gotten there, and had sent out encoded messages to the other former pilots to know when he should be expecting their arrival. After five hours or so of waiting, he received messages back from ex-pilots 03 and 04, but 02 and 05 remained unresponsive.

According to 04, his mission would be completed in five days, and would take another day to relocate to their safe house. Former pilot 03 would be on his way here in at least seven days. Assuming 02 and 05 would be here after that amount of time, Heero deduced he'd be alone in the house for about six days. That was fine by him. He preferred to be alone.

He had his laptop open on the coffee table, placed in front of the couch he was currently seated on. His fingers danced across the keyboard, pressing each key with a swift preciseness. The click of every key stroke seemed to echo throughout the vast emptiness of the house. The noise was both greatly irritating, and strangely pleasing.

It had been Winner's job to set up their _squat spot_, as Maxwell insisted on calling their hiding residence, and Heero had told him to be discreet about it. The last time 04 had made their housing decisions, one could mistake the place as a palace, fitting of a full royal family. This house was much smaller, but still one could see the obvious effort the blonde had put into giving his friends as much luxury to enjoy, for the brief time they were able to enjoy it.

The building they would all be staying in this time could almost be called a mansion. There was a fully stocked kitchen, and a dining room with a huge rectangular dinning table in it. It had at least three bathrooms on each floor, a pool that went from four to ten feet, and rooms for each of them, with more than enough extra rooms to spare.

The living room had a large leather couch, the one he was currently lounging on. It was placed near the center of the room, back facing the staircase to the second floor. It's front faced the wall ahead of it, which was dominated by a large flat screen TV. There was also a smaller leather couch, and a plush looking chocolate brown armchair, sat on either side of the larger couch. The other pieces of furniture angled accurately to face the TV better. And in between those and the couch, were side tables with lamps set on each.

In the center of the semicircle of furniture, stood the coffee table, atop a decorative oriental rug. It covered that section of the dark, polished hardwood floor.

The house had three floors besides the attic and the basement. It was an unnecessarily large -and suspicious- residence, but Quatre was no fool. He had made sure the building was hidden deep in the forest, kept away from any unwanted attention.

And, as an added bonus, Heero was looking forward to not having to share a room with Maxwell, like last time. The boy was a monster to live with. Always parading about in his constant array of motion. And always either talking on and on in some unfollowable rant, or doing something unpredictable and vexatiously distracting.

Well, his _actions_ weren't vexatious, per say. It was more the fact that 02's actions were _unpredictable_ that annoyed him. Heero was accustomed to being able to read people like a book. Analyzing their behavior, and figuring their next move before it happened. It was how he operated, and how he interacted with people. Watching how they moved and how they acted, and having an educated guess on what they would do so he would always have the upper hand.

But when it came to Duo Maxwell he had absolutely no upper hand at all. The braided fool was like a living wild card, and it was utterly impossible to figure him out.

Heero sighed at the very thought of the tiring teen, and picked up his laptop. He leaned back into the couch, and propped his sock covered feet up on the coffee table, placing the laptop down on his well fitted, jean covered legs. Setting his elbow against the armrest, he propped his jaw up on his fist, and blankly stared at the screen.

The hand that wasn't supporting his head was toying absentmindedly at a long string hanging, from a rip, in the hem of his forest green hoodie.

His thoughts swarmed about in his head, like a flock of birds around bread crumbs. Thoughts about his last mission, thoughts about how much easier it was to lay low without his gundam. Thoughts about what the next mission could be. And slowly the dullness of those thoughts were making his eyes heavy, and his head harder to hold up. He fought to keep himself awake, but a quick glance at the time told him that maybe some sleep would be good. It was 1:26am, and he's been up since four this morning.

He could have moved upstairs to the room that had been chosen for him. Where his bed was waiting for him. But he decide to stay in his spot on the couch. It was rather comfortable, with it's giving form and the cool feel of the leather against his warm body. It was endearing, in a way. He closed his laptop, encasing the room in darkness, and put it back on the table. Then he brought his legs over to lay on the couch with the rest of him.

He had his gun tucked away in his waist line, and was ready to deal with any possible intruder if that sort of situation arose, so he let himself rest easy for a while, drifting off as he curled a little into the leather of the couch.

.

.

.

It was around 3:30am when Duo Maxwell showed up to the correct destination of the safe house. He hid the pickup truck he'd stolen away in the brush of the forest. He kicked open the door, and stumbled his way out of the drivers seat, tripping over himself and falling down to the ground below.

"_Dammit_!" He hissed, pushing himself up to his knees, then slowly to his feet, balancing himself on the trunk of a tree to keep upright. He placed a hand over his side, feeling the warm wetness of blood seeping through the cloth covering the wound there. Looks like the makeshift bandaging wasn't working as well as he'd hoped. He growled again as his knees buckled beneath him, almost sending him back to the ground. "Fuck."

He hung his head as he felt the need to throw up, but kept his stomach under control in favor of moving forward.

"The quicker you get movin', the quicker you get there." Duo mumbled to himself in a motivational way. "_Then_ you can throw up..."

Then he forced himself onward through the forest in the direction of the safe house.

It was only a few meters away, not even a half a mile, but it felt like twenty miles by the time he'd made it to the front door.

He climbed the stairs weakly, and gave a short cross between a chuckle, and a sigh of relief when he stopped to stand on the porch. He reached for the double doors with the hand that wasn't holding his guts inside his body, and turned the knob. When it wouldn't turn he came to the painful conclusion that the damn doors were locked.

He whimpered pathetically at his bad luck. He'd lost his lock pick a while ago on his mission, and even if he did have it, he doubted he had the patience, or will to take the time to pick the damn thing.

"_Shit!_" He coughed roughly, covering his mouth with his hand, tasting the blood forced up through his throat and over his tongue.

Duo glared at the door, portraying just how frustrated he was with his eyes. Then he raised a foot and kicked it forcefully into the left door, smashing it open and into the wall behind it with a resounding crash.

.

.

.

Heero was woken abruptly from his sleep by the banging of one of the main entrance double doors slamming open, and smacking into the wall with an urgent force.

The teen's prussian blue eyes snapped open, and he sprung from his spot on the couch. He quickly snatched his gun from the waist of his jeans, and aimed at the entrance of the building.

The doors had been locked, so it had either been picked or broken in. Considering the door had made a hole in the wall from the force used to open it, Heero assumed it hadn't been picked. Which also meant that the intruder was either an enemy, or someone who thought the house was empty and would be easy to break into. Heero really didn't care which, as long as this ended with the intruder either leaving immediately, or being tossed into the basement with a bullet in their head.

The armed teen watched as a figure teetered through the door and leaned heavily against the wall, panting heavily for breath. The shadowed figure's proportions suggested he was a male, and his height, being maybe an inch or two shorter than Heero, indicated he was young. Maybe the same age as himself. The intruder leaned the side of his head against the wall, and coughed violently. The hacking sounded awful, like he had just coughed up water taken into the lungs from drowning, or like he had strep throat.

Heero watched as the boy shifted against the wall, leaning his back against it, head tilting back in exhaustion. It seemed the other teen had yet to detect his presence. He continued watching as the shadow figure's arm moved away from it's place, pressed across his stomach, to be held out in front of him, fingers shifting around as if covered in something nasty.

"...Christ, I'm a mess..."

He knew that voice. It was raspy, and not nearly as high spirited as it normally was, but Heero recognized it non the less.

A second later, Heero had moved to the part of the protruding wall, separating the front entrance from the living room and kitchen. Just around the corner was the power switches for the living room lights, ceiling fans, porch lights, and foyer lights. He flicked on the lights to the foyer, lowering his gun when his suspicions were confirmed.

Duo Maxwell looked at him with wide, violet eyes, straightening up from off of the wall, but keeping one hand against it to keep himself up. His other arm caught the end of his black jacket, tugging it over to hide the obviously horrible wound from Heero's quickly adjusting eyes.

Heero took in the sight of 02, gaze calculating. His usually braided hair was undone, flowing down his back and hanging in his flushed, dirty face in tangled coppery brown strands. He had no shirt on, and his jacket was hanging over his shoulders like a cape. He struggled to stay upright with his hand on the wall to balance himself.

It was apparent that he was attempting to make it look like he was fine, but his legs were too shaky to convince. A wide grin stretched across his face as he looked at Heero, eyes tired, and heavy.

"Hey, Heero." Duo laughed, trying so hard to make it seem like he was alright. "Is Quat here?"

He felt like shit, and that motivational throw up speech from earlier was going to come back to bite him in the ass real quick if he didn't do something to fix this soon.

"Assuming you're referring to Quatre; no, he isn't." Heero answered, tucking his gun away back into his waistband. His monotone voice, and expressionless face ever present.

"_Dammit_..!" Duo muttered under his breath, but that didn't stop Heero from hearing it.

"You know where the first aid is? I got a little cut to take care of." He explained vaguely, attempting to make it seem less serious than it really was.

He stumbled forward a little, letting his hand slide along the wall to catch himself. He didn't realize though, that his hand had been covered in the blood from his wound, and he had left a hand print and a smear of red along the wall as he moved.

But Heero noticed. Heero also noted the blood dripping onto the floor from the wound that was somewhere in the torso, judging by the trajectory of the blood droplets, and how Duo insisted on covering his upper half with the side of his unzipped jacket.

Heero was about to order him to sit down, but -before he could- Duo hunched over even further and began hacking again. This time it was more scratchy, as if he were struggling to breath.

Purple eyes glanced around the left corner and into the kitchen, spotting a trashcan just beyond the threshold of the kitchen entrance. He ran quickly over to it and collapsed to his knees, clutching onto the edges of the can. He leaned over it and lurched, emptying his stomach into the trash bag inside.

Duo puked once before taking a deep gasp of breath and puking again. Then he repeated the process three more times.

Feeling the need to assist him, Heero walked over to Duo's side, crouching down beside him and gathering his long brown hair up behind his head, to keep it out of the way. The wounded teenager heaved a few more times until his body decided it was done. Then he started coughing again, and breathing shakily.

Heero gave him a minute, just to make sure he was really done.

When he was sure Duo was well enough to be removed from the can, he began to stand him up and walk him over to the living room. Duo tried to pull away, to walk on his own, but Heero wasn't having any of it, and only pulled him back. Once they reached the couch Duo dropped down onto it almost too quickly. He laid on his back and groaned at the pain of his wound, still covering it to keep it away from Heero's eyes.

"_Uuugh_..." He moaned, rubbing at one of the blood dried grazes on his face.

"Hey, buddy..." Duo laughed, a little breathless in his injured state. "I'm not doin' so good..."

"I'd gathered that." Heero stated.

He stood over the second pilot, waiting for Duo to remove his jacket, and let him see the damage inflicted on him. But 02 didn't move to take the jacket away. Instead, he clung to it a little tighter; pulling it closer, like it was some kind of shield.

"Duo." Heero said, sitting down on the portion of couch left beside the other's legs. "How badly are you injured?"

"Need stitches..." He chuckled, lifting his other hand to push his bangs back out of his face. But they only fell right back where they were, making him smear even more blood and dirt over his forehead for nothing. "Some pain killers would be awesome... We got any a those..?"

"I think so. But that's not what I meant. Let me see your injuries." Heero ordered.

Duo looked almost panicked for a split second, before smiling and shaking his head a little.

"Nah... It's cool, man. It's only a little c-cut...I'll just go fix it right up... Don't worry about it." He tried to brush it off, struggling to sit up from the couch, and get up to find whatever could help him close up his wounds. He hissed as he pushed himself up on his elbow, arm still holding his jacket secure to his torso.

"You can't even hardly walk on your own." Heero pointed out.

He stood up and walked around the arm of the couch, pushing Duo's head back down to lay against the armrest, as he passed. "I'll go get the first aid kit. You stay here."

Duo groaned, allowing himself to be pushed back down into the couch. "Sure, whatever..."

Heero walked passed the staircase, and into the hallway. He passed three closed doorways before stopping at the correct one. After opening the door, he walked into the bathroom; turning on the lights before heading over toward the sink.

Under the sink were two cabinets containing towels, toiletries, that kind of stuff. It also held the first aid that he was searching for and he removed it from the cabinets before quickly exiting the room, and returning back to Duo's side.

Once he was around the couch, Heero sat back in his spot beside Duo's legs. He set the box down on the coffee table, and turned back to the wounded teen, who still covered his torso like it was some important secret.

"Move your arm." Heero ordered, opening the box, and taking out the needle and thread that would be used to fix whatever injury the other bared. He also gathered some pain meds, and alcohol pads to clean the wound before messing with it.

Duo scooted up the couch a little more, leaning his shoulders against the armrest as he tried to sit up again.

"I... I can do it myself, you know..." Duo said with a smirk, still trying to weasel his way out of letting Heero see his wounds.

"I'm sure you can." Heero stated, pushing up the sleeves of his hoodie so they wouldn't get any more stained with the other's blood. "But I'm going to make sure it's done right."

Duo's smirk fell, leaving a more serious look on his face. He only lay there for a few moments, eyes locked on Heero's, in almost a glare, as if physically requesting him to back off. But Heero was stubborn. Duo wasn't going to get out of this, and he knew that.

02 sighed in defeat, and slouched back down in his spot.

"Alright, Heero. You win." He said, letting his shoulders sink back down to let his head rest against the arm of the couch. "Just... go easy on me, will ya..."

Shaky fingers clenched around the fold of his black jacket, pulling it back hesitantly to uncover the gruesome wound. It was bandaged roughly by a folded white shirt that was secured in place by duck tape. There were only a few spots of white left on the shirt, the rest of it dyed a vibrant crimson. Still drying blood trails streaked across finley tanned skin, canvased over battle toned muscles.

He was covered in dirt, and blood, and sweat, and, by the flushed redness of his face, Heero assumed he also had contracted a fever.

He set to work to unbandage -if you could even call the makeshift patch job a bandage- the wound and uncover the damage 02 had been carrying around. He picked at the edges of the blood slicked tape, and peeled the secures away from Duo's skin. He took the wadded up shirt with him, as he pulled up the five strips of tape holding it's sides down.

Drying blood, and pieces of flesh came up with it as it was peeled away. Duo hissed, biting down on his lip to keep from yelling.

He hadn't been lying, it was a cut.

But it wasn't at all a little one. It was etched across Duo's left side, the side facing Heero, and it was about three and a half inches long. It sliced horizontally through his tan, blood muddled skin, just a little ways below his chest, encroaching over his abs. It was deep enough to puncture something, but, by the looks of it, nothing was internally damaged.

He sure was lucky. But he'd lost so much blood, and Heero wondered how he'd managed to walk his way here.

Heero was unaffected by the severity of the injury, but that didn't mean he was indifferent to it. While he didn't flinch at it, or wince, on the inside he was growing just a tad bit uneasy with how bad it looked.

"Are these scorch marks, and burns around it?" Heero asked in his unfazed, monotone voice.

"Yeah.." Duo laughed, leaning his head back, and letting it lull to the side a bit. "It was bleedin' real bad at first... worse then it is now. I tried closin' it up by burnin' it..."

"That was stupid. A wound can infect easily after cauterization." Heero stated blankly. But he knew it was probably one of the best things Duo could have done for it. If he'd lost any more blood he probably would have died.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time..." Duo snickered tiredly.

"Swallow these." Heero ordered, dumping two pain killers from their bottle, and holding them out for 02 to take.

Duo took them without question, and downed them gratefully. Heero put the pill bottle down and took some of the alcohol pads, ready to start disinfecting the wound.

"This is going to hurt."

Heero gave him no time to prepare himself for the burning of hell fire stinging his wound upon impact with the alcohol.

Duo yipped loudly, which morphed into a whiny groan. He clawed his fingers into the leather jacket that laid under him, and writhed slightly in his place as Heero cleaned the cut. Heero knew the pain killers had yet to set into affect. So he figured he'd keep him talking to keep his mind off the pain.

"How long have you been bleeding out like this?"

"A-a few uh... hours..."

"What happened?"

"...Doesn't matter..." Duo muttered, resting his right arm over his face, and hiding his violet eyes in the crook of his elbow. "The mission was a success, if th-_that's_ what you're wondering..." Heero's brows narrowed down at the answer. He wasn't sure why, but it got under his skin.

"That's not what I was wondering." He stated, tossing away the alcohol wipe, and getting a new one. A fair amount of dirt still refused to move away from the cut. "I asked how this happened. Not the status completion of your mission."

Duo peeked a weary eye at him from under his arm, then chuckled.

"_Oh ho_... so Mr. perfect soldier's _concerned_ for me, is he..?" Duo asked sarcastically. He was expecting an answer to shoot him down, like always. Heero probably only wanted to know exactly how he was hurt so he'd know if anything was internally damaged. And, in turn, would know how to mend it.

"If that's what you want to think, then sure." Heero said, brushing a more sensitive burn over the cut. Duo gasped, shooting up a little at the sharp pain, causing Heero to pull his hands away, and wait for him to calm down. The sudden movement put more strain on his already aching muscles, and he growled at himself for moving before settling back down in his place. Then Heero went back to disinfecting the injury.

He let Heero's answer sink in, and when the words finally registered into his mind he felt his face heat up even more than it had already been from his fever.

_'Did he actually just half admit to being worried about me?' _Duo thought, letting his arm fall back between himself and the leather back support of the couch.

He let his eyes trail up to Heero's face, taking in his appearance, and saving it to his memory. Dark, chocolate brown hair hanging in the deep prussian eyes that were currently staring intently at his injury. Hands working diligently to fix him up, and make him better. He looked good in normal clothes. His favorite color of a hoodie, and comfy looking, worn jeans. It suited him much better than his usual green sleeveless tucked into shorts. He seemed more comfortable this way. More human.

It was no big secret that he had sort of a thing for the former 01 Gundam pilot. It's not like it was a private, hush-hush, tell no one thing. It's just that no one had ever asked, so he hadn't shared it with anyone. Don't ask, don't tell. Right? But it's not like it mattered anyway. It was only a flippant little crush, and even if it was something deeper, it's not like he had a chance. After all, Heero had that girl of his. Like hell he'd trade a beautiful girl like that for... him.

But knowing that Heero had at least enough feelings for him to be concerned, that was enough to make his entire week.

"So, are you going to tell me, or not?" Heero asked, growing impatient with Duo's lack of an answer.

Duo swallowed the pride he'd been keeping by hiding his temporary frailty, and weakness, and decided to tell the other what happened.

"Just for the record... I haven't lost my touch in stealth. I was just caught off guard..." Duo began.

Heero's eyes moved up to connect with his before Duo looked away in his embarrassment.

_This sucked!_ He shouldn't have to be this disgustingly vulnerable in front of _Heero_ of all people. Heero dropped his eyes back to the other's injury as Duo went on with his story.

"It was one of those missions where I had to get in, destroy their computer system and new artillery, then get out... So I broke into this military base. Simple enough... couldn't have been any easier, actually." Duo laughed, recalling the poor security. "Mission went well too. I planted a virus in the system, set up bombs through the weapons arsenal... destroyed their whole base, pretty much. But I guess I miscalculated the reach of the blasts... I ended up destroying both my main escape rout, and my back up escape rout." He said, bashfully scratching his head.

"Tried coming up with something quick, but was caught up with some soldiers who were on their way to see what all was left of their shit I wrecked... Played along with 'em for a while until we were outside in the court yard... Just outside their boundary fence was a forest, so I figured that was my best bet. When they were distracted I ran for it... I couldn't tell you why they didn't have guns on them, but I sure was lucky they didn't. They chased after me, and one asshole had a sword."

"Hold still." Heero commanded. Now done cleaning the wound, and ready to start stitching. It was hard enough stitching up a side wound, what with the expanding, and contracting of the torso, from breathing. But that added with the animated speech of the overactively imaginative L2 resident, was not -the slightest bit- an easy task. He clipped the stitching thread with his teeth, since there weren't any scissors in the first aid box. Then he wiped the needle and string down with another alcohol pad, and positioned it to the edge of the cut, pausing for a moment.

"Ready?"

"Y-you're about to stick a needle in my side... I'm about as ready as I'll ever be." Duo laughed. And with that, Heero pierced the needle into burnt flesh and proceeded in stitching up the large cut.

Duo muffled a loud yell behind a bitten lip. His legs instinctively moving closer to his body, and hands clutching at the couch through the fabric of his blood drenched jacket. "D... damn... could you be any _gentler_ there, chief..?"

"Keep talking about your mission. If your mind's focused on that, it'll hurt less." Heero commanded, ignoring the sarcastic statement from before.

"Yeah, right..." Duo doubted, wincing again when Heero pushed the needle through the other side of his severed flesh and tugged to pull the two sides together. "Alright... so, like I said, this guy had a sword. A sword! What kind of military base soldiers run around with swords instead of guns? It's idiocy!"

"Would you prefer they had their firearms, and killed you?" Heero asked blankly.

"Maybe. Depends on how well you stitch up that damn hole." Duo chuckled. In response Heero only tugged at the next stitch to close the cut even further. Duo grit his teeth, and turned his head to groan into his arm. "Okay... I get it... no dissin' the stitching work..."

"Go on with your story."

"Right. Okay... so, sword guy is runnin' me down... chasin' me around the building, and ends up cornerin' me. Guess he was aimin' to slice me in half or somethin', but I dodged it... He still got me, though... that's where this little beauty came from." He explained, pointing at the cut.

"He ended up cutting through the fence though, and after knocking him out I went through the hole, and into the forest. Th- then the guy's buddies showed up, and followed after me... I found a nice spot to hide in the brush, and tied my shirt around me to cover the cut... But they found m... me, and then magically they had guns I guess... Started shooting at me, and I had to crawl around through the dirt to find a new hiding spot... only got away 'cause I found a waterway to dunk into... Followed it right out to some lake somewhere."

Duo was growing annoyed with laying on his hair. Shifting around was tugging at it uncomfortably, so he sat up a little, making Heero stop stitching, and glare at him for moving around. But he didn't say anything, only watched as Duo ran his hands along the back of his head, collecting the long brown hair behind him in a ponytail. Then he laid back down, throwing the mass of hair over the armrest so it was out of the way.

"Then what?" Heero asked, wanting 02 to keep talking. The method of focusing on something else was working quite well, and he was only halfway through the stitching. But it seemed like the pain killers were taking a bit of affect now, so maybe he was just a bit curious about what happened next.

Duo, though, was a little caught off guard. Heero wanted to know more? But that was his whole mission. Though, he guessed he could go on.

"Well..." Duo started, looking up at the ceiling. "I found my way into a town... Stole a truck there. There was a lighter , and some duck tape in the glove box, so I burned the wound closed, and fixed myself up with that A-grade bandaging you saw earlier... Now I'm here..."

Now he was done, and Heero still had a ways to go with mending his side.

"Keep talking." Heero demanded.

"There's nothing much to say..."

"Whatever you want to talk about. Just keep talking."

"I don't really wanna' keep talkin' though..." Duo groaned, reaching back to pull up a strand of his hair to play with. "What do _you_ wanna' talk about?"

Heero sighed in irritation, thinking up something at the top of his head.

"Why'd you request Quatre?" Heero asked, not coming up with anything else.

"Huh?" Duo looked confused.

"When you were asking if he was here earlier. What do you need him for?"

"Oh!" Duo laughed. "I was hoping he could fix me up. The guy's got the gentle touch of a mother, and he's great at patching up wounds... I like havin' him do the job for me when I don't think I can do it myself." The copper brunette explained, soft smile on his face while thinking of the last time he'd had Q fix him up. The poor blonde looked like he was about to feint from worry over the bullet wound in his shoulder. But he took care of it so well that Duo wasn't even left with a scar.

Heero mulled the explanation over in his head. The more he thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. He had requested Quatre to look over, and stitch his wounds. But he had flat out refused to give Heero even a glimpse of the injury, until he'd shown him he had no choice in the matter.

He said he asked Quatre to mend his wounds when he thought he couldn't do it himself. But if Duo thought he couldn't handle the injury he carried, on his own, then why had he been turning Heero down, and pushing him away?

Heero could understand that one would want Quatre's gentleness to be handling their injuries, but what if Quatre were gone and Trowa, or Wufei were here with him. Would Duo have willingly gone to them for help? Or would he have been just as cagey, and reluctant as he had been with Heero earlier?

No, he would have accepted their aid. Heero could recall another time, in a previous safe house. Duo had fallen off the roof, and scraped his back pretty bad on the way down. It was only himself, Duo, and Trowa there that time, and Duo immediately came inside and asked where Trowa was. At the time Heero had thought nothing of it.

Then another time, when only Quatre was absent from the mission. Trowa and Duo had built a fire outside the safe house, and Duo had ended up burning himself. He then rushed through the house to find Wufei, who apparently knew more on second degree burns than Trowa did. When Heero had asked what Duo was freaking out about, he had told him it was nothing, despite knowing that Heero knew all there was to know on treating any kind of burn. But, again, he hadn't thought it strange at all when Trowa told him later that Duo was looking for the L5 teen to help with an injury.

And yet another time, when it was only the two of them on a mission. Duo had been shot in the back of the leg. Heero had offered to help, but the braided male had turned him down. Later that night he'd dug the bullet out himself, and was unable to care for it properly because the wound was behind him. He'd been limping around for a while after that, all because he didn't trust Heero enough to seek his help.

Was that it? Did Duo not trust him? He'd said that he preferred Quatre's gentle touch. Was Heero not careful enough? Was he too rough when he handled wounds?

"If you thought you couldn't treat your own injury, then why did you refuse to let me help you at first?" Heero asked.

He was still trying to keep Duo's mind off of the needle weaving in and out of his flesh, but, again, was also genuinely curious for the answer. Duo's violet eyes widened a bit as he looked at his friend's face. It was downcast, with dark bangs covering his eyes. Then Heero looked up to meet Duo's gaze, pausing for a moment, after carefully pulling the needle up and tightening the next stitch.

"I... uh...w-well, I... um.." He was having a hard time concentrating. Heero's hands had stopped, and now rested against his bare skin. His mind was having a hard time focusing on anything else but that, and it turned his face even redder.

"Am I bad at tending wounds? Or do you simply trust, or prefer the others over me?" Heero asked, his monotone voice still holding up nicely, even though, by the way he phrased the question, he seemed a bit miffed. Or, at least, that's how it seemed to Duo.

"N-no...no that's not it." Duo stuttered. "It's just... I- I don't know man... I... I just thought I could, maybe, try doin' it myself before pissin' you off with my neediness." Duo stated, as Heero began stitching again.

It wasn't a complete lie. He did assume that asking the other to help him with his injury would, on some level, irritate him. He was the perfect soldier, he had better things to do than mend the wound of stupid, street rat, Duo Maxwell.

The truth was, he got injured a lot. A hell of a lot more than any of the other guys, for some reason. He learned to accept it, long ago, that the universe simply hated him, and would do anything within it's power to screw him over, in any way possible. But he didn't want to look weak. He didn't want Heero thinking he was weak.

Heero could tell it was a lie. Or at least not the full truth. Duo would tell you himself that he never lies. There's a reason for that. It's not that he _won't_ ever lie to someone. It's just that he _can't _lie. When he lies, his eyes look to his right, and he's always called out on it.

And right now he was staring very intently at the backrest leather cushions of the couch, that happened to be at his right side. But Heero didn't push him. If Duo didn't trust him then that wasn't his problem. Heero really had no room to judge; he didn't trust _anyone_. Duo, and the rest of their team, included. So then why was he getting so set off by this?

"Neediness can save your life sometimes." Heero pointed out, finishing up the last two stitches. He tugged the string gingerly to tighten them up, before tying off the stitching. "I wouldn't have gotten mad if you had asked for my help. That'd be stupid, you idiot."

Still not having scissors to cut the string, Heero curled it around his finger, and pulled it out tightly. He lowered himself down to the base of the string, and bit just above the knot holding the stitches together. When it didn't snap the first time, Heero came even closer, lips brushing over his finished stitching work, as his teeth worked at detaching the excess string.

Duo was frozen in place, breath catching in his throat, and fingers curling painfully around his bloody, black jacket. He could feel Heero's mouth scraping across his wound. But it wasn't unpleasant. It didn't hurt at all, it was gentle, and fleeting. It was almost too much to handle; Heero's lips ghosting over his abs softly, at the corner of his now sealed cut.

Duo's face couldn't have gotten any redder. He slowly took in a ragged breath, biting on his bottom lip to keep himself silent. The air in his lungs left shortly after being taken in, and he couldn't stop. He tried, but he couldn't control his slightly panicked breathing. Each breath was quick and heavy, his belly moving in a rhythmic way under Heero's lips.

Then the clip of the string was heard, and Heero raised his head from Duo's tummy. He tossed the string, and needle into the box, and his dark blue eyes flicked up to look at Duo. He was sitting up farther now, shoulders propped up by the armrest. His knuckles were white, clenched around the fabric of his jacket, and his violet eyes were wide. His face was scarlet red, and his lips were pursed into a thin line.

"What's wrong?" Heero asked, scooting forward a bit, and pressing the back of his hand against Duo's forehead. Duo let his eyes fall shut as he leaned into Heero's cool touch.

The feel of his feverish skin was hot, and damp. Heero retracted his hand.

"As I thought. You're burning up." He stated, standing from the couch and gathering the first aid box to take with him. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

Duo didn't reply, only watched in a daze as Heero walked away. His overexertion, blood loss, and exhaustion was beginning to catch up with him. To keep himself awake, Duo sat up from his position on the couch. He hissed loudly as he got to his feet, leaning against the couch to keep himself upright.

After throwing his jacket on the floor he undid his pants; throwing them to join his jacket, in a heap, on the floor. He was left in only the maroon red boxers that covered his lower half. But that was alright. The room was too hot for him, and he was done with those filthy clothes.

The couch welcomed him with warm leather, heated from his burning skin from where he'd laid before. Duo leaned against the cooler backrest of the furniture, crossed his legs, and held his ankles, dozing off slightly against the cold leather of the couch.

.

.

.

"Duo." Heero's voice shook him awake. "Wake up. You're not done yet."

Duo opened his eyes to look at his friend, who was now sitting very close to him.

"What is it..?" He whined, looking at Heero strangely for waking him from his well deserved sleep.

"Swallow these." Heero said, holding out two redish brown pills, and one white one.

"What are they..?" Duo mumbled, holding out his hand to take the offered medication.

"Something to bring your fever down."

Duo hummed in acceptance, and swallowed the pills down quickly. After they were down his throat, Heero took a bandage roll and began wrapping it around Duo's torso. The stitches needed to be kept clean, and neat, so they didn't get infected. Duo sat up as straight as he could, and struggled to stay awake as the other wrapped the bandages around him securely. Once they were wound around his thin body, Heero pinned the end of the bandage to the rest of it, to keep it in place.

Then Duo sat back again, as his friend picked up a damp washcloth, and smoothed it over Duo's blood, and dirt smeared face. He wiped over the left side first, then moved to the right, cleaning the dried sweat, and grime away.

"Hey..." Duo said, gaining Heero's attention. "You... you got.. somethin'.. on your..." The boy stumbled over his words, pointing to Heero's bottom lip.

Heero took the corner of the, now, brown and red washcloth, no longer white from face filth. He wiped it over his mouth, and pulled it away to see a small spot of red. Some of Duo's blood must have gotten on him when he was cutting the string.

"Are you hurt?" Duo asked, sounding more curious than worried. Heero shook his head.

"No. It's your blood." He replied, going back to cleaning Duo's face.

"Yuck..." Duo muttered, dozing off again. This time to the soothing feeling of a cool, wet cloth cleaning him up.

...

Heero watched Duo's vibrant amethyst eyes fell closed as he caved in to sleep. He finished cleaning Duo's face, and stood from the couch, grabbing the boy's shoulders and guiding him down to lean on the armrest. After straightening his legs out from their crossed position, Heero hooked his arm under his knees and moved him down so he was laying on his back.

He folded up the washcloth onto it's clean side, and placed it down over Duo's forehead. The armchair had a blanket hanging over the top of it, so he walked over to it, and took the blanket for his friend. He unfolded it, and laid it over Duo's unconscious form, making sure the former pilot was set for the night.

Afterwords, he cleaned off the coffee table, and took Duo's filthy clothes to the basement to throw them in the washer, along with his hoodie that had a bit of blood on it. He changed the bag in the kitchen trashcan, and dragged it over to the couch, just in case Duo woke up at some point, and needed to vomit. He also shut the broken front door, and tied the knobs together with some rope he'd found in the basement. Then he picked up his laptop, and went upstairs to his room.

Heero pulled on a grey t-shirt, then climbed into his bed, laying his laptop beside him. It was now 4:53 in the morning, and he was in major need for some sleep, but he couldn't get himself to go under. He just kept thinking about all the things that could go wrong down stairs while he was asleep. He wasn't meaning to, the thoughts were just coming to him.

What if Duo had been internally injured, and by the time they realized it it'd already been too late. Or what if someone broke in, and killed Duo? He was unarmed, and too sick, and injured to defend himself.

Heero was quickly growing annoyed with his own mind. After trying to ignore it, only more and more bad turned scenarios materialized in his head.

Finally he gave in to it's persistent call. He couldn't rest easy with the thought of that idiot somehow getting himself killed in the middle of the night. So he grabbed a thin, spare blanket from the foot of his bed, and headed downstairs again. Once in the living room he walked around to the little couch, laying down on it and then stretching out to become more comfortable. He spread the blanket out over himself, and settled into the leather, just like he had earlier on the big couch.

Prussian blue eyes glanced over at the sleeping teen on the larger couch. Duo had thrown his arms over his head in his sleep, and his hair cascaded down the edge of the couch, and onto the floor below. One leg had risen up from laying straight down to being bent, flat soul to the leather cushions, while the other dangled over the edge. He wondered how the smart ass could be so injured, but still snore so loudly, and lay so comfortably. Like he didn't have duties, responsibilities, obligations, or even worries. It was just... amusing.

Heero thought about turning off the foyer lights, to entrench the room in sleep friendly darkness, but decided against it, curling onto his side.

Duo truly was an amusing sight to behold.

* * *

**Again, hope you all enjoyed :) If not, and it turned out to be a complete failure, please tell me so I can see what I can do to improve it.**

**Thank you.**


	2. Chapter 2: Apparition

_Chapter 2: Apparition_

* * *

Duo woke up feeling like absolute shit. He cracked open one eye, but closed it immediately after opening it. Heero hadn't turned off the lights last night, and the light was bearing down on him mercilessly. It really wasn't that bright, but to his awful aching head, it was hell. The curtains of the many windows, lining the living room walls, were open, allowing the direct rays of light to shine through the glass and help light up the room. But Duo's head was aching like the dickens, and all the light was irritating his devilish headache.

He groaned, holding the side of his head as he sat up. The feeling of his skin peeling away from the leather of the couch was sickening. He looked around at the room he was in, feeling a bit lost for a moment, before he remembered where he was. He had kicked his blanket off at some point in the night, and was covered in sweat. It made the couch even more filthy from the dried blood that was, again, becoming liquefied, from the heat of his fevered body, and the wetness of his sweat. He felt disgusting, and would give almost anything for a shower right about now.

Standing from the couch proved to be extravagantly difficult. Not only did he trip, and hit his wounded gut on the armrest, but he also needed to puke. He almost missed the trashcan -that Heero had moved to the side of the couch for him- in his moment of great clumsiness.

When he was done spilling his guts into the can, he raised his head, and looked around again. His eyes landed on the sleeping Japanese teen, who was laying curled up on the smaller couch. His back was facing him, with a blanket covering around him comfortably. His shoulders rose and fell in almost a rhythmic way, as he breathed slow, and calm.

Duo secretly loved catching the highly guarded teen sleeping. He realized how creepy that seemed, but it was nice to see Heero semi defenseless, and vulnerable every once in a while. Even in his sleep, he was on high alert. Just slightly less than he normally was when awake.

Heero shifted in his place, turning from his side to lay on his back, lags stretching out over the opposite armrest. He took in a deep, even breath, before letting it out in a newly relaxed sigh.

_Adorable._

Duo chuckled to himself. The almost sarcastic voice in his head laughing even louder at the thought. He wouldn't dare call Heero adorable in a serious manner. The guy had a rough, handsome face, with cold eyes, and an _i-don't-give-a-fuck_ attitude about the world, and the population of life inhabiting it. Even though Duo could tell he actually did care a lot about the world, just in his own way. But to anyone who didn't know that, he was scary. Maybe alluring, in a mysterious way. _Definitely_ attractive. But not adorable.

That aside, he definitely thought Heero was adorable.

Duo stood from the floor, balancing himself on the couch, as he picked himself up. Then he looked down at himself and grimaced. He needed a shower.

After he picked himself up, and waited until he thought he was steady enough to walk, he struggled his way up the stairs. If this safe house was anything like the other places Q had planned for them, then his room should be the one with the '02' etched into a plaque on the door.

Once onto the second level, he realized the house was bigger than he thought, and was upset to discover that only rooms 01, 03, and 05 were on the second level. Meaning his and Quatre's were probably on the third. Which also meant that he had another flight of stairs to climb.

With an exasperated moan, he turned to his right and continued up the second stairwell. He slowly ascended the stairs until he was on the third floor. To his left was a long hall with two doors on opposite walls, and a large window at the end. Up ahead was an even longer hall with three doors along the wall, and the other wall lined with up to nine windows. Not counting the one at the end wall. Duo hummed and went left, seeing the numbers 02 placed on the door from afar.

Again, if these rooms were anything like the other's Quatre had set up for them, then there would be an entire wardrobe of stylish, clean clothes waiting for him. Kitty Quat always enjoyed picking out clothes for all of them. And, quite frankly, Duo thought they all enjoyed wearing them just as much as Q liked picking them out. He always made sure to choose what he thought would suit them best. Making them look good, keeping them comfortable, and fitting into their individual tastes, all at once. Quatre really missed his calling as a wardrobe stylist. He probably would have been good at it.

Duo opened his door, and walked into his room. It was huge! Not as big as the one from the last time Quatre had set up living arrangements in a freaking castle, but it was still larger than the barn he'd been squatting in for his last mission. There was a large bed. He wasn't sure if he should call it a king sized, or an emperor sized mattress.

There was a large closet door, another door that was probably connected to a bathroom, three dressers, a full body mirror in the corner, and a flat screen TV up on the wall. There was also a rather irresistible looking couch, set up facing away from the foot of the bed, and toward the wall with the TV. And there were windows lining the wall that the dressers were set against. His bed was set with the headboard up against the wall to his left. And it was one of those freaking canopy beds! With red curtains trimmed with gold. They could slide on a bar attached to the bed, and cover the bed up like a tent. It seemed kinda girly, but also awesome, in a little kid setting up a blanket fort kind of way. And it had two side tables on either side of it, just like the couch downstairs.

"Swee~t." Duo grinned, looking around at his new room with wide, glittering eyes.

Quickly shaking himself from his awe struck wonder, Duo walked over to one of the three dressers, and pulled out a pair of candy red fitted boxers from the top drawer. Then he moved to the other drawers to find a pair of jeans, and a black t-shirt. Quatre always had a system when it came to these things. The top drawers usually consisted of boxers, and socks. The middle was for shirts. The second to bottom were for pants, and the bottom were pajamas. But this was going to be an extensive mission, so there wasn't only one dresser, like there usually was.

So now the dresser on the left was for underpants, socks, and pj's. The middle was for shirts. And the right one was for pants. Then the closet was always for fancy things, like suits, and uniforms. The bottom of the closet was mainly for shoes. Tennis shoes, combat boots, work shoes, fancy, shined up shoes. It never really mattered to him though. As long as he had something covering his feet, he was good.

He had a feeling though that, with all these clothes, this wasn't going to be just your average week long mission. How long were they planning to be stationed there again?

Meh, he didn't care. All he cared about for the moment was a damn shower!

Duo took his clothes, and walked to the door that he assumed lead to the bathroom. When he opened the door, and turned on the lights his eyes grew large again with fascination. White tiled floors, with white textured walls. There were the basic things. A toilet, and a sink. Two doors. One being the entrance door he stood in, and the other going to a small closet where extra towels and all that was stored. A large portion of the wall above the sink was nothing but a gold framed mirror. And the shower was huge, with glass walls, and a glass based door.

Oh, he couldn't _wait_ to get into that!

There were fresh white towels hung up on a rack that was attached to one of the glass walls of the shower. Duo placed his clothes on that until he was ready to put them on. He thought he should have covered his bandages with some plastic wrap or something to keep them dry, but discarded the thought, decided it would be too much work, and too messy to deal with. So, instead, he undid his bandages to reveal the stitched together cut along his side. He would just bandage it up again once he was done.

After throwing the old, disgusting bandages in the trash, he took off his boxers, and opened the shower door. He stepped into it, and closed the door once he was in, looking down at the knob in confusion.

You know that moment, when you're staying at a friend's house for a number of days, and when you go to take a shower you realize your friend never told you how to turn the water on? However, you're already undressed, and don't feel like going through the trouble of putting your clothes back on and asking them, so you're stuck with these stupid knobs that you don't know how to operate. And it seems like absolute rocket science to simply start a shower. Then you're almost scared to turn on the water because you don't know if you're going to be doused in flesh boiling heat, or frosty cold chill raining down on you.

That was the dilemma that Duo was currently facing.

It was only the one knob. Was it supposed to be pushed, twisted, or pulled?

...

Once he'd figured out how to work the knob, which activated the water by pulling it out, and was temperature controlled by twisting it left for hot and right for cold, he enjoyed the magnificent blessing of the heavens that sprayed down over him. It had probably been around a week or so since he was last able to take one, and he was planning on enjoying every second of it.

It was safe to say he'd spent about an hour in there. But once he was done soaking in the heat of the water, he figured it was about time to get himself cleaned up. He made sure that not a speck of dirt was left on him. Weather it be stuck between his stitches, or tangled in his long hair, he was determined to find it, and get rid of it. When he was positive he was entirely clean, he turned off the water, and stepped out of the shower.

The steam fogged up the room, covering the glass of the mirror. He walked over to it and wiped his hand across the surface, wanting to see his, now blood and dirt free, devilishly handsome face. He smirked at his reflection, and turned back to the shower, grabbing a towel to start drying his glorious main of hair. Then he grabbed his clothes, and took the first aid box from the bathroom closet, before opening the door to his room, and exiting with an evaporating cloud of steam trailing behind.

He heaved a heavy sigh of relief at finally being clean again, and walked over to his bed. He was satisfied with his hair now, still damp but not dripping water anymore, and started drying the rest of himself off. Then he put on his new boxers, and sat on his bed. Opening up the first aid box, he pulled out a roll of gauze, some medical tape, a four'' by four'' square bandage, and held the safety pins he'd kept from his previous bandages.

He would have just let the wound be. It was clean, and mended enough to be able to heal on it's own. But he didn't want to piss off Heero by walking around with no bandages. So he fixed himself up, and put on his new black shirt. After putting it on, and removing his hair from inside the back of it, he looked in the full body mirror, in the corner, to examine himself. It was nice. Cottony, and comfortable, and form fitting. He looked good. Not in a look-at-my-muscles kind of way, but in more of a slimming kind of way. Not that he needed it. He was already pretty slim. Realizing he still had a fever, Duo left the jeans, he'd picked out, laying on the bed. He didn't want to overheat himself and pass out.

There was a hairbrush laying on top of the dresser beside the mirror, and Duo happily snatched it up. Almost nothing was more annoying then having knots in his hair. After a painstaking twenty five minutes of brushing out his hair, he left the room, and went downstairs. Noticing Heero was still asleep, he thought it best not to disturb him. So he quietly raided the kitchen for something light that he thought his sick stomach could handle.

He decided on a can of chicken broth he'd found up in the pantry. It had hurt to reach it, because of the stretching at his stitches, but he'd got it down eventually. After pouring it into a bowl, he put it in the microwave, and thought it would be a fun idea to adventure around the house while it was cooking.

.:(GW):.

Heero woke up to the sound of excited feet pounding down the stairs. He sat up from his spot on the leather couch, and looked over at the other couch, instantly on edge when realizing Duo wasn't lying there, resting. In five seconds, sixteen different scenarios, and situations sprouted in his head. Maybe the enemies had found them, and had found Duo dead, and wanted to dispose of the course before waking him up and interrogating him? That was the theory at the forefront. It actually made a little bit of sense in the minuscule amount of time his sleep groggy mind had took to come up with it.

He was ready to pull out his gun, and aim it at whoever was coming down the stairs, but was calmed by the voice of Duo calling out to him.

"Hey, Heero! Nice to see you up! You were starting to freak me out with how long you were asleep. Thought for a while I gave you my sickness." He exclaimed with a bright laugh, descending the rest of the stairs to stand at the bottom.

Heero turned around to see him in much better shape than he had been in last night. Though it was obvious he probably wasn't in any better shape at all. That wound was still too serious for him to be walking around, and he was still sick. But, still, he was clean now. With his new clothes, that fit to his form quite well. And his now shining, silky hair spilling down his back in a flippant, free manner.

He was willing to inwardly admit that the other teen was somewhat attractive. Well, he already knew Duo was attractive, but, at that moment, he felt that the other seemed significantly more appealing than normal.

"Duo, where are your pants?" Heero asked in his usual emotionless tone.

"Where _aren't_ my pants?"Duo chuckled, but seeing the no nonsense look on his friend's face, he figured an actual explanation would help. "I still got a fever. Didn't wanna overheat while wandering. Hey, did you know this place's got a pool? We got a pool here!" He shouted in excitement, pointing at the pool room to the living room's left.

"Yes, I was aware." Heero stated bluntly. "But you aren't swimming until your wound is healed. Also, if you're still sick, then you don't need to be up walking around."

"Ah, common, Heero! Don't be like that! Bed rest is so boring!" Duo complained. "Besides, I'm doing fine. No damn sickness, or injury is gunna keep me down." He grinned, trying to play off his dependence on the stare case railing as him casually leaning on it, to prove his point. But Heero wasn't fooled.

"If you can walk over here, without stumbling, then you can do whatever you want. If you can't, you're staying in bed until you're better." Heero offered, crossing his arms.

Duo had been stumbling all over the place all day. Not once had he been able to walk a straight line without almost falling on his face. However, he was presented with a challenge, and _that_ he could not ignore.

"You're on." He smirked, letting go of the railing. He took a step forward, the gashes and cuts from his previous mission stinging in complaint, like they had been since he woke up this morning. He took a few more steps, but his stomach decided now was the time to cut in with a wave of nausea. Growling at his treacherous guts, he stuck out his tongue and bit it harshly. He carefully took two more steps toward the couches, and the nausea faded away, letting him move more freely.

This was almost demeaning. He felt like a baby taking it's first steps. And Heero watching every move he made, like he expected him to fall at any second, wasn't helping. Then, as quickly as he could, Duo took the last ten steps like a pro, and ran into the smaller couch.

He held onto the arm of the couch, looking up at Heero with a conquering grin.

"Ha!" He laughed, leaning more on the arm of the couch as he smiled in his victory. "You can't tell me what to do! I do what I want, Heero Yui!" Duo cheered for himself proudly. He turned around to go find something else to do, but was grabbed by the shoulder and thrown down onto the couch.

He pushed the hair that had fallen in his face aside, and looked up at his friend, who now stood beside the couch. Heero sighed, and crossed his arms again, looking down at the American teenager. Duo lay with his copper toned hair splayed out around him. His deep amethyst eyes wide in slight shock. His arms were held close to his torso, and his bare legs were parted slightly, as they rested over the arm of the couch. His bright red briefs had ridden up his thighs, displaying even more cuts and bruises from his nearly deadly turned mission the other day.

"Lift up your shirt."

"W-what?" Duo stuttered, eyes growing even wider at the demand.

Heero resisted the urge to groan, and roll his eyes. Instead, he planted his knee on the couch and his right arm on the back of the couch, leaning over the slightly smaller boy. He grabbed the end of Duo's black t-shirt, and pulled it up to look at the wound underneath. Duo held his hands up by his head in surrender, and watched quietly as the other inspected his bandaging work.

"How long have you been up?" Heero asked, looking at the blood that stained the otherwise crisp white bandages around Duo's middle.

"I... I don't know. About two hours... M-maybe three." He answered, a blush spreading over his cheeks involuntarily, as Heero's cobalt eyes gazed over his chest and stomach. At the hitch in Duo's voice, Heero looked up to see his heat flushed face.

He lifted the hand, that had been holding up Duo's shirt, up to the teens face. He placed the back of his hand against Duo's forehead, like he'd done the night before, frowning even more at the heat radiating from his skin. He pulled his hand back, and pulled the other's shirt back down to where it was supposed to be.

"No more wondering until your fever is down, and your wound is healed enough for it. At this rate, you're just going to end up bleeding to death. Letting your wounds reopen like this."

"I-I'm a busy guy! I can't just lay around until I get better. That's so boring, and pathetic!" Duo argued, not liking the idea of being bedridden for days at a time.

"I'm sure you can manage for three days. That's enough time for your cold to pass, and your side to close up properly." Heero reasoned, standing from the couch, and straightening out his shirt. Duo groaned, and threw back his head. Heero always does this! Every single time! There was no arguing with the guy, you would only loose!

"Can I at least go up to my room? I don't wanna spend day after day on a couch. Even if they are comfy."

Heero seemed to think about it. "Hn."

"_Hn_\- yes, or _Hn_\- no?" Duo asked, sitting up from his spot. Heero only frowned at him in response. "Oh, stop with your frowning. You know, if you liked me half as much as you like that Peacecraft girl, you would have probably just smiled at me and said _both_. And we would have laughed, and I wouldn't be sitting here talking to a grumpy faced Heero." He leaned back and crossed his arms, propping an ankle up on his knee, with a smirk.

It kinda stung though. Knowing that the ever irritating wench had somehow managed to weasel her way into the perfect soldier's heart. But if the guy had fallen for someone so annoying, and couldn't stand him, then what did that say about Duo's own degree of annoyingness? Was he worse than she was, and didn't even realize it? That was a mood damper.

"But, I guess you'd like me better if I were only half as annoying as I am." Duo chuckled.

Duo had his eyes latched to the hem of his briefs, as he fiddled with it between his fingers. He didn't notice the narrowing of Heero's brows at the mention of the female's name. Nor did he see the deepening of the other teen's frown at the not so subtle insult to himself. Heero didn't know why this was bothering him so much. Duo was joking, and laughing, but it was apparent that he was taking himself seriously on some level. And for some reason, that Heero couldn't determine, it was sparking a hint of annoyance within himself. Not at the usually cheerful, and rambunctious seventeen year old, but at himself. Or the world. Or Relena. He couldn't decide.

He didn't know why he wanted to tell Duo to stop talking down on himself. He didn't know why he wanted to convince the other that he wasn't even a _fraction_ as unpleasant as the young Peacecraft heiress. He didn't know why he just wanted to make the other feel better. All he knew was that, in all his life, he'd never wanted to do any of that for anyone before. And it was confusing him beyond all reason.

He was one for living by his emotions, but he didn't know these emotions. He didn't know how to act on them, or even how to deal with them. They were a bad mixture of consideration, surprise, and guilt. He looked down at Duo's downcast face. A forced smile, hidden poorly by strands of chestnut hair. It pulled at his stomach, making him want to apologize for whatever it was that he had done to ever prideful God of Death he knew so well, into this insecure child that now sat before him. But Heero kept his ever neutral expression, and turned away from his upset friend.

"Yes, you can go to your room. But no running up and down the stairs. If you come down here for anything stupid, you're staying on the couch." Heero warned.

"Alright, alright..." Duo laughed, hopping up from the couch, and walking around it toward the kitchen. Heero watched him curiously.

"What are you doing?"

"I made myself some food earlier, but I was so occupied with adventuring that I forgot about it." He explained, tripping up and almost falling to the floor. But he quickly ran to the wall, dividing the kitchen from the living room. He caught himself on it, and clutched to it for dear life. "Haha... still a little dizzy..." Duo laughed pitifully. He rested his head against the cool wall and sighed, giving himself a moment to breath, before standing straight again and trying to go into the kitchen.

"No." Heero ordered, walking over to stand beside him. He grabbed a hand full of chestnut locks, and began dragging the shorter teen toward the stairs by his hair.

"Ow! Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Duo whined, spinning around, and grabbing onto Heero's shoulders to keep himself standing. He was starting to feel sick, and he laid his forehead against Heero's back, closing his eyes to keep the ground from moving under his feet. He moaned in displeasure, his fingers bunching up the grey fabric of Heero's shirt into fists. "Whyyy?" He whimpered hoarsely. He walked along with Heero, not having a choice since the taller boy was still holding his hair hostage.

"You can barely walk. The last thing you need to be doing is carrying something with you while you're trying to go upstairs."

"But I puked all my guts out, and now I'm starviiing..."

"When you're settled in your room, I'll bring it to you." Heero said, beginning to go up the stairs. He could feel Duo's hands clenching even harder at his back, dragging him down slightly as he fell behind. Knowing this was a bad idea, Heero released Duo's hair, and turned around. Going down a step, he lifted Duo's arm over his shoulders, and looped his own around the shorter's back to keep him steady. "Okay?" He asked, looking into those hooded violet eyes. Duo nodded and they continued. Silently, they took each step at a time, until they reached Duo's room on the third floor.

...

Once in Duo's room, the two made a b-line for the bed. As soon as they got to it, Duo climbed up onto the tall mattress, and collapsed onto the black comforter. He curled in on himself with a groan.

"...ash...an..." He mumbled into his arm. But it was so quiet, and incoherent that Heero hadn't heard it.

"What?" Heero asked, placing his hands on the mattress, and leaning in to hear the other better.

"Trashcan..!" Duo whined, sitting up and crawling to the side of the bed, covering his mouth. "_Trashcan..!_" He was about to jump off the bed and run to the bathroom, but Heero quickly grabbed the one between the bed and the side table, and pushed it at the sick teen.

Duo grabbed it hurriedly, and threw up into it. Then he settled into the end of his bed, legs crossed, and arms hugging around the trashcan in his lap. He took a few deep breaths, then looked up at Heero with a smile, before throwing up into the can again.

When he was certain he was done, he went to bend over the bed, and set the vomit filled trashcan on the floor. But, as he leaned over, he stretched at his stitches, and hissed in pain. Heero took the can, and set it on the side table for easy reach. Duo sniffled, then moaned miserably. He grabbed his jeans from earlier, and tossed them over onto the back of the couch.

He looked around for a minute, before his searching eyes landed on Heero.

"Is there a remote in here? I sure as hell ain't spending _three days_ in here with no TV when I got a _flat screen_ right there in front of me." He stated. Heero took the remote off of the side table and sat on the bed beside his friend.

Duo scooted over to let Heero sit beside him at the foot of the bed, and the taller made himself cozy on the surface of the mattress.

"What do you want to watch?" Heero asked, as the TV flicked on.

"A movie." Duo said, flopping down onto his back. "A scary one..."

Heero went to the guide, and started searching through movie titles. "Insidious 7."

"Seen it."

"The Darkest Night."

"Nope."

"Haunted yard."

"Nada."

"Something Not Human."

"No way."

"Late Night Blood Bath."

"_Uuuuuuugh_..!" Duo almost growled._ Why was there never anything on in the afternoon?_

"Here." Heero said, handing the remote over to Duo. "You keep looking. I'll go get your food."

"Alright..." Duo pouted, laying on his side, as he skimmed over the movies. Heero got off the bed, and walked over to the door. He was about to open it when he was stopped by Duo's voice. "Uh...um, Heero?" He called out tentatively, not moving from his spot.

Heero turned around to see what the american boy wanted. "Hn?"

"Um... thanks... for, you know... takin' care o' me, and everything..."

Heero felt the corners of his mouth twitch upward, before flattening back down to their original expressionless line. Then he turned back around and opened the door, headed downstairs to retrieve food for his friend.

...

About half an hour later Heero came back up the stairs with a bowl of chicken noodle soup. It was made from the chicken broth Duo had forgotten in the microwave, and some swirly pasta noodles he'd decided to make. When he reentered the room, he saw that Duo had moved a few pillows from the head of the bed, and piled them at the foot of the bed. He laid on his side with his arms around one of the four pillows. His head rested against the red fabric of the pillowcase, as he looked up at the TV.

The movie that was playing was in Spanish, but the subtitles were in English so they could tell what was being said. Duo seemed completely enthralled in the movie, and only barely noticed when Heero walked over, and climbed onto the bed beside him. After realizing that Heero had brought him food, though, he sat up, and crossed his legs. He gratefully accepted the bowl, and placed it down in his lap, beaming when he saw the added needles, and a few spices.

Duo's starving gut roared for food. He didn't even think to wait a minute or two for it to cool down, before scooping up a spoon full and shoving it in his mouth.

"Careful, atsui." Heero quickly pointed out. But it was too late. The molten liquid was already burning the American's tongue, causing him to squeal painfully. He swallowed roughly, and opened his mouth, sticking out his tongue with a whimper.

"Ouuuch!" Duo whined, then his eyes grew wide, and he pulled his tongue back in his mouth. "Wait. Did you just speak Japanese to me?" He asked, a small smirk growing on his face.

"Hn."

"You did, didn't you!" He accused with a smile. Heero met his violet eyes, then crossed his arms, and looked away. It's not like he meant to. He was just trying to warn the other before he burned himself, and accidentally slipped into his native tongue.

"It's nothing new. I speak in my first language all the time."

"Yeah, but only when you're insulting me!" Duo laughed, leaning in a little. "What's '_atshwee_' mean? Is it another term for _stupid_? I have to say, it'd be nice to have another pet name other than '_baka_', from you. Even if it's still an insult."

Heero sighed. "_Atsui _means hot." He corrected, looking back at his friends wide amethyst eyes, and curious smile. "And I don't insult you nearly as often as you deserve, so you shouldn't complain."

"That's mean, Heero. But I guess you're right." _No he wasn't._ He wasn't right at all, and he wanted to tell Duo that. Tell him he was sorry, and that he didn't mean it. But the words wouldn't come, so he stayed quiet. "But still, you should speak Japanese more often." Duo grinned, unfazed by his friend's normal, anti-social banter.

"Why?" Heero asked, his curiosity not leaking into his voice.

"I don't know. It's cool. Makes you seem more human."

"Hn."

"Domo arigato." Duo laughed. "_Thanks_ for the food, right?"

"Since you're thanking me for food, it would be _itadaki-masu_. But, if you're just saying thanks in general, then that would be correct. Though _you_ would probably just say _domo_."

"What is it if it's just domo?" Duo asked. He laid down on his belly, leveling his bowl, and elbows on the pillow. Then he leaned his head down on his fist, as he looked up at his Japanese friend.

"Basically the same thing. It still means thank you, but it's less polite. Like saying _thanks _to a friend, instead of _thank you _to a coworker, or a stranger who gave you directions."

"Why would _I_ say domo though? Why single _me_ out?"

"You're blunt, and not very polite."

"We'll look who's talking." Duo smirked, landing a playful punch on Heero's shoulder.

"Hn. Baka."

The soup had cooled down now, and Duo returned his attention to it. He scooped up another spoonful, blowing on it for good measure this time, before sticking it in his mouth. He looked back up at the TV and frowned.

"Aah! _Heero_, you made me miss some of the movie!" Duo said, grabbing the remote, and skipping back to where it came back from the commercials. "This is a pretty good movie. It's about a boy who was kidnapped, and dropped down a hole. Then the son of his kidnappers finds him, and they become friends. It's called **_Io non ho_**_**paura**_." He pronounced carefully.

"Hn."

Duo squinted up at him, a slight pout adorning his face.

"Oh, _common_, dude! You were being so talkative, just a second ago."

"Io non ho paura?" Heero asked, trying to get that pout off of Duo's face by speaking again.

"It's Italian. It means _I'm not scared_." Duo announced with a grin.

"That's a weird name." Heero stated, staring blankly at the TV.

Duo snickered. "_You're_ a weird name."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Does anything about me make any sense? Ever?" Duo asked, scooping another spoonful of warm soup into his mouth.

"Hn."

"_Hn_-yes, or _Hn_-no?" Duo hummed out around the delicious food in his mouth. He had asked the same question earlier, and knew he wasn't going to receive an answer.

"Both?" Heero said in a questioning tone, as if silently inquiring if that was what the other wanted him to say.

Duo swallowed his food, and snapped his head over in his friend's direction. He hadn't expected an answer. Maybe an indignant grunt, or a hum of annoyance, but not the slightly hesitant reply he had been given. He looked up at Heero incredulously, but the other only stared ahead of him, watching as the little boy in the movie helped his friend out of the hole, and into the field to play. The same monotone expression on his face, like always.

The long haired teen smirked, and turned back to the TV. While he ate the rest of his food the two sat in silence and watched the rest of the movie.

.:(GW):.

That night, before going to bed, Heero assisted the other with re-bandaging his wound. Even though Duo insisted that he could do it himself, Heero was stubborn, and only told him to shut up so they could get it done and over with. After that was done, Heero put the first aid kit back in the bathroom, and headed for the door. His wounded companion calling out a quick "Goodnight!", to which he hummed in acknowledgement, before he exited the room.

He was still wondering if it was alright to leave 02 on his own. They weren't in the clear yet. He could still have something wrong internally, or maybe hiding another wound that he didn't want Heero to see. But that was highly unlikely, considering Heero had already seen the other's full torso, which had no serious damage, other than the gash. And he'd been running around in his underpants all day, so there wasn't really a place for another wound to be hiding.

Except for the occasional bleeding of the stitched up wound, and the little cuts and bruises scattered along Duo's tan skin, there wasn't anything to be concerned about.

But what if he gets up in the night, and wonders the house again? Heero had demanded he stay in his room, and only get up when necessary. To Duo, though, that was probably a formal invitation to do whatever he pleases when the Japanese teen isn't around.

Heero came to the end of the stairs, and turned to the left, walking down the hall to the door titled 01. After entering his room he turned on the light to see what he was doing. His room was smaller than Duo's, but was around the same design. Three dressers, a flat screen, a bathroom for himself. The only real differences were the color schemes, and the furniture.

While Duo's room was black, and red, with spice brown, polished hardwood flooring, his was black, and forest green, with a golden brown, not so shined up hardwood floor. While Duo had a red, and black textured couch, and a coffee table looking up at the TV, Heero had a desk at the side of the room.

He changed his clothes, throwing his old ones into the hamper sat between two of the dressers. Then he turned out his lights, and settled down into his bed. Now in a new pair of jeans, and an olive green t-shirt, Heero opened his laptop, and decided to let the typing up of his daily log take his mind off the injured idiot upstairs. If the American needed him, he was just downstairs, and would come at his call. But if 02 wanted to wonder around, and end up bleeding to death from reopening his wound, that wasn't his problem.

...

Duo had rearranged the twenty pillows on his bed into a sort of nest like crescent wall, against the headboard. He crawled under his covers, and continued flipping through movies, trying to find something entertaining. After a few hours of nothing but flipping through boring night shows, he decided sleep would be a much better use of his time.

He turned off the TV, and lay flat on his back, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness of the room before closing them to rest. He could feel his consciousness slowly beginning to slip, the start of a dream manifesting in his head. Before he knew it, he was out.

The dream slowly forming in his mind triggered his awareness, and he looked around himself at the familiar bleakness of the back alleys of a city in L-2. Completely lost in the realm of the dream, he found himself forgetting his life of post war peace, leaving his mind in the state of a lonely, orphaned child.

...

_The alley was cold, and dark. The seasons were changing, thanks to the climate control Earth simulator, and the nights were becoming longer, and deathly cold. Duo sat against the wall of an old, worn down building. He would have broken into it, but he'd seen through one of the windows that the inside was even more worse for wear than the outside. So he bundled up in the overly large shirt that covered his shivering body, back digging into the rough surface of the bricks behind him, as his body heat warmed the wall, making him push himself farther into it in a desperate attempt to keep from freezing to death._

_It had begun to snow lightly, but nothing too heavy. A few wayward flakes swiveled in the air in front of him, before disappearing in the fog of the breath he'd breathed into his hands, to heat up his numb fingers. He curled in on himself even farther, and waited for the moment when he would develop frost bite, and be unable to move. After that he would most likely die. Freezing to death wasn't his first pick, if he had to choose how his life would end. But it was that, or starving to death. Which was the lesser of two evils? He couldn't decide._

_The thought of starving made his stomach growl, reminding him that he needed food soon, or he wouldn't last much longer. But all of the shops and stands were closed, leaving no one to steal from, and nothing to eat. He dropper his head into his arms, that crossed over his trembling knees, and set out a long sigh, knowing his time would be up in a matter of weeks, if he were lucky._

_The feeling of a warm hand on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts, and he snapped his attention to a boy crouching down beside him._

_"Are you alright?" The stranger asked, letting his fingers rake through Duo's wild, knotted main of hair as he pulled his hand away. Green eyes locked with on guard, sunken in violets, and Duo instinctively shifted back, away from the other boy. "My name's Solo. What's yours?"_

_"Don't got one." He answered, looking down at his feet as they scraped across the cobble stone path below them. Then his stomach let out a needy growl, and he turned his head back into his arms, moaning at the emptiness of his belly._

_"We have food at our camp, if you're hungry. I could take you there, if you want." Solo suggested, noting the scrawniness of the nameless boy in front of him. He was considered under fed to even another street rat with a limited food supply, meaning he needed food fast, least the city add another to the ranks of lifeless bodies discarded throughout the streets._

_Duo looked up at the other again, taking in the ratty clothing, a mangy messenger bag strapped around his shoulder, and the dirt that clung to him like his natural skin. He had blonde, disheveled hair, and deep forest green eyes. He nodded at the others offer, and stood to his feet, fallowing the other through a few twists and turns until they made it to a building that was less demolished than the last, but still not commended as hospitable to the eyes of the richer inhabitants of the city._

_There was a fire going inside, with many hacked open cans and a few bread loafs laying around it. The room was filled with kids, like a tribe of children ranging from their toddler years, to preteens. Blankets, and potato sack pillows were thrown out haphazardly around the room. Most children curled up in them for warmth, while the rest sat eating around the fire, or trying to settle the sniffles, and cries of the younger members of the group._

_Solo entered first, walking straight up to the fire pit, which was just a burnt hole in the floor, surrounded by rocks. Duo fallowed closely behind, feeling a bit out of place. When they sat down beside the fire, the others looked up and smiled at the blonde boy that lead him there._

_"Solo! Good to see you're back. How'd the run go?" One of them asked, putting their food down as they all looked at him with hopeful gazes. Solo smiled, picking up a can from a little kid's hands and smashing the lid in with a rock. Then he stuck an old rusted fork in it, and handed it over to the toddler beside him._

_"It went well. I'll be taking a few of the older guys with me tomorrow, to help carry back all the food I found. It's stashed in a truck at the back of one of the stores. And I snuck a little something back with me." He twisted around and pulled out a box from his messenger bag. They all looked at the box with widening eyes, and bright smiles. It was an apple pie._

_Quickly, Solo opened the box and took out a slice, one by one passing out the contents of the first box out to his friends. Then he pulled a second, and third box from the bag, and started passing those out as well. Duo merely watched, scooting closer to the fire as he took in the way they all treated each other like family. It was nice._

_He couldn't remember his family, so he never really knew what it was like to be hugged by a mother's warm embrace, or be praised by a loving, proud father. He didn't even know if he'd ever had any siblings, so this was all very new to him. He wondered fleetingly if this was how siblings acted towards each other. But when a fat slice of apple pie was held out in front of his face, Duo was knocked from his mental musings, and was drawn back to the situation at hand._

_"Take it." Solo said, grabbing Duo's hand, and smacking the food down into it. "It's good"_

_He stared down at it for a second, before lifting the pie slice to his mouth and taking a bite from the end. The tangy, sugary, sweetness coated over his tongue, making him hum in delight at the flavor. The bite was barely swallowed before he was chomping down two more bites. Once the piece was gone Solo handed him another, and he was so enthralled in his food that he didn't notice the many pares of eyes watching him scarf it down like a dog._

_"Who is this guy, Solo?" One of the kids asked, briefly taking their gaze off of the new boy to look their leader in the face._

_"A new addition to the family." He answered fondly, continuing to watch as the boy beside him inhale the food with tears welling up in his violet eyes._

_From that day on, Duo had always favored apple pie over any other food. It reminded him of the night he was adopted into his first real family. The cinnamon-y tang of the warm, backed apples always reminding him of home, and filling him with a sense of ease._

_That night, he shared a blanket with his new friend, and leader, the group already not having enough to hand out for everyone. In many parts of the room there had been at least four children sharing the same cover. But no one really minded. They were all happy to share, and more than happy to even have a blanket, when they could be out in the streets, freezing to death. It also helped with keeping heat, with more bodies to radiate it._

_He felt so at peace. Cuddled up to his new friend's warmth. Smelling the food they had been lucky enough to scrounge up. Hearing the crackle of the wood in the fire, along with the slow even breaths of the blonde boy beside him. The feel of a comforting arm thrown over him in the other's sleep. He could never forget that winter. He and Solo had become almost inseparable. One was never seen without the other, and when they were involved, trouble always seemed to lurk right behind. But it was fun, and their snarky, sarcastic banter always brought high spirits to the other kids._

_No, he could never forget. Not even if he wanted to. He could never forget any of the time's he'd spent with Solo, and the others. It had been perfect._

_And then it ended._

_A year or so later, pestilence broke out throughout the streets of the city. They had lost a good portion of the group to the illness, their leader included. The memory was engraved in Duo's head, and he doubted there would ever come a time that it would be erased from his memory. Kneeling on the floor, with his best friend on his deathbed. He remembered the agony in those usually lit up green eyes. The tight grip of Solo's hand clenched around his own. The heavy labored breaths that were forced passed his lips. It had all happened so fast. He had contracted the sickness three days before, and now he was fading fast._

_"Duo..." The leader muttered weakly, the children around him leaning in to hear what he had said._

_"What was that?" The nameless boy had asked, bending down over his friend to hear his voice. Solo snickered, and looked up at his friend, green eyes locked with sad, tear filled violets, just like the night they'd met. He reached up and grabbed the back of his friend's neck, pulling him down to say in his ear._

_"Duo..." He repeated, almost feeling the confusion radiating off of his nameless companion. "Even if I'm gone, I...I'll still always be with you... so, then... that would make us a duo... and th-that should be your name..." He laughed again, pulling the other down even closer until he was almost laying on his chest. "Isn't it fitting..? S-S-Solo, and Duo..."_

_Duo held himself up just enough so he wasn't squishing his dying friend, even though the other was pulling him closer and closer, in protest to his defiance. He felt the tears break free, and spill down his filthy face as he leaned his head down into Solo's shoulder, choking back a sob. Solo let his fingers lace into the thick strands of copper brown hair, and he smiled, lifting up his other arm to wrap around Duo's shoulders._

_"...I always l-liked your hair... you'll...a-always keep it long... right..?" Solo asked on a whim, his voice growing quieter, and more strained with each word. Duo leaned up a little, frantic panic laying in his widened eyes as he stared down into Solo's, knowing what was about to happen. Solo only stared back, lively green eyes dimming down, losing the light they once held. But he still muttered on, letting his fingers stroke through his friend's dirty hair. "...Promise...y-you'll... never cut it...? I-it ...suits you... all w-...wild, and..." Duo could feel Solo's fingers clutching through his matted locks, and he reached a hand back to hold onto his friend's. "...Duo..." His horse voice sighed, green eyes falling closed, as his grip weakened to nothing. "...I-I... lo..v..."_

_Then the room was engulfed in silence. The only sound was the rush of the wind whistling, and humming, as it blew into their run down home, and carried their leader's life away with it as it fled._

_"I know..." Duo mumbled. No one dared to make a noise, just watching with teary eyes as Duo leaned down, and wrapped his arm underneath his friend's neck in a lasting hug. Then he pulled back and looked down at him. His skin was pale, and he was much too still for anyone's liking. He was gone, but it didn't seem like it. Like he'd said, he would always be with him. "I love you too, man."_

_Duo sat up completely, but he didn't turn around. Instead, he locked his eyes on the wall in front of him, and parted his lips to speak. "My name is Duo." He announced, still holding tight to their deceased leader's hand. "He was Solo... And, since he will always be with me, that makes us a duo. That's the name he chose for me, so that will be my name..." And that was the breaking point._

_The surviving children burst into wails, and cries of sorrow. Their screams, and howls only outdone by Duo's own cries. He let go of what little strength he had left, and flung himself back down to cling desperately to the body of his best friend._

_There was no laughter, or apple pie for a while after that._

_..._

Duo woke with a start, taking a moment to figure out that the wetness on his face was from the tears he'd shed in his sleep. He sat up, and threw his blankets back, standing from his bed in a stumbling mess. He'd forgotten about his wound, in his disoriented state of mind, and just barely kept himself from falling to the floor in his unbalanced manner.

He knocked into the shelf beside his bed, making it screech loudly as it was knocked an inch or two out of place. He couldn't see anything, and was struggling greatly to find his way to the bathroom. Once he'd felt his way along the wall to the bathroom doorway, he reached inside and flicked on the light. Before his eyes even had the time to adjust, he rushed to the toilet, and collapsed around it as he emptied his guts into the bowl. After his body was done lurching from the painful dry heaves, he began to shiver and tremble as pitiful sobs rocked his body.

"Boys don't cry..." He mumbled to himself. But that didn't stop the tears, that had welled up in his eyes, from breaking free. "...boys don't cry..." They spilled down his face in trickling streams as he gripped the seat of the toilet, fighting to stop the shaking in his shoulders, and the burning tightness in his chest.

He sat there for a few minutes, but, to him, those minutes lasted for hours. Once he thought he was done, he stood from the toilet, and flushed it with a grimace of disgust on his face. Then he staggered towards the sink, staring his reflection down like it was trying to pick a fight. His eyes were red, and damp, and he looked like he'd just been through a hurricane.

With a growl, he turned on the cold tap water, and ducked his head down near the sink. He cupped his hands under the water, and splashed it into his face, rubbing it into his skin like it would wash away the sadness. Then he did it again, and again, and again, until he felt he was done. After turning off the water, he reached over and grabbed a hand towel from the side of the sink counter. He dried the water from his face, then let his violet eyes flicker back to his reflection.

His breath caught in his throat, and his blood ran cold, instantly freezing any movement he could possibly make. His spine went rigid with shivers, and the hair on the back of his neck stood out as his eyes widened at the figure standing behind him in his reflection. It was a little boy with messy blond hair, and vibrant forest green eyes, with a smile, as bright as sunlight, playing across his lips.

"S...S-S-Solo...?"

He spun himself around, hands planting firmly into the counter to hold himself steady. When he was turned towards the rest of the room, he was met with nothing but an empty space. He felt a cold chill run through him as he tried to understand what he'd just seen, but then he was plagued with nausea, and lost his footing, falling hard to the tiled floor below as he lost consciousness.

.:(GW):.

Heero awoke to the sound of a heavy table, or a dresser being moved on the upper floor. It sounded heavy, and violent, like someone had slammed all of their weight into it. Fallowing the screeching cry of the heavy object scraping across the floor, was the unsteady thumping of bare feet clomping carelessly across hard wood. It wasn't very loud at all, but to an insomnia suffering Heero Yui, with nothing better to do than listen for anything in the silent darkness of the night, it was as loud as it needed to be.

"What did I tell him about getting out of bed?" Heero grumbled to himself irritably. He stood from his bed and grabbed a flashlight from a drawer in the desk over against the wall. He pushed the switch up and walked out his door, heading for the stairs to go see what was going on with the only other occupant in the house.

He knew it probably wasn't anything more than Duo getting up to puke, having forgotten that there was a trashcan right at his bedside. It would be very typical, and expected of him, but Heero was bored, weather he'd like to admit that or not, and was willing to do anything other than lay in his bed staring at the darkness of his ceiling all night long.

Closing in on Duo's door, he paused, hearing the running of water, and the occasional choked hiccup or sniffle that came from the after affects of crying. But why would Duo be crying? Did he hurt himself? No, he wasn't one to shed tears over a wound. He wasn't an infant, even if he did act like one at times. So, then, what was he crying for?

Then he heard the water turn off, and there was quiet. But still he stood at the door, listening to be sure he didn't walk in at an unwelcome moment. He could faintly make out a jumbled voice, before there was a loud crash, and the thud of a body contacting harshly with the floor on fallen impact.

Heero threw open the bedroom door, and ran into the dark room, sliding to a stop at the open doorway to the bathroom. His eyes squinted slightly as they adjusted to the light, but quickly grew wide as they focused on the crumpled form of his unconscious friend. He entered the bathroom, and leaned down at Duo's side, turning him over to see if he was hurt.

His tan skin was clammy, and pale, but red around the eyes from the tears that he'd obviously cried. He moaned in discomfort as Heero shifted him around on the floor. Heero picked his sick friend up from under the arm, and carried him back into the bedroom. After laying him down, on his side, on the bed, Heero pulled the covers over the other's trembling body. Standing there for a moment, he waited, to see if Duo would wake up, or shift in any way. But he only lay there, whimpering lightly at whatever tormenting dreams were invading his mind.

Deciding Duo was alright, Heero went back to the bathroom to grab his flashlight, turning off the bathroom lights while he was at it. He walked over to the bedroom door, knowing he wasn't needed there, but stopped as he heard another whimper escape the boy on the bed behind him.

Instead of leaving, he closed the door, and walked back into the middle of the room. He snatched a spare blanket off the foot of the bed, and laid down on the couch. He knew he should go back to his own room, but he couldn't let himself leave after what he'd just walked into. What if it happened again? It seemed like Duo was going into hysterics, and he couldn't just leave him like that.

Switching the power off on the flashlight, and setting it down, left the room pitch black. And he was back to staring blankly at a dark hidden ceiling. Only this time, he was on the couch in his friend's room, and that friend was whining and whimpering in his sleep, like he was trying to get away from something that was pinning him down and leaning right in his face.

Heero's cobalt eyes fell closed, and his brows knitted down at the sad, pleading sounds coming from his friend. It was hard to think that the same sorrowful boy had been smiling, and laughing so cheerfully just a few hours ago. He knew Duo had an undesirable past. They all had. But it was easy to forget sometimes, with how happy, and jubilant Duo always seemed to be. Then he found himself ideally wondering what kind of past Duo had.

The suffering he'd endured. The tragedies he'd lived through. Everything that happened to create the person that lay, almost sobbing, in the luxurious bed behind his couch. Heero felt his interest peak when a small, muddled cry resounded out through the room.

"..._Solo_..." Then he heard movement from under the blankets, and he sat up to see if the other was awake. But Duo was still very much asleep, only moving to bury his face into one of his multiple pillows. "..._S-solo_..."

Heero watched with blank eyes as Duo tossed and turned, twisting around to try and find a spot of comfort in his time of weakness. Then he laid back down on the couch, and looked up at the ceiling again as he listened quietly to the noises of his friend.

After a while Duo started to settle down. His heavy pants, and whimpers dimming until they were nothing but light snores, and every now and then a mumbled word or two. He was trying to decipher the dream the other was having by picking apart his sleep talk, and fitting it into a possible situation that would cause him such distress.

So far, all he had to go on where the words _miss you, alone, leader, _and the word _Solo, _which was repeated over twelve times so far.

Eventually his eyes began to grow heavy, and he could feel his awareness ebbing away every moment. His last thoughts, before sleep, lingered on the last words spoken from Duo's lips. Each syllable of his voice soaked in such pure emotion that it was hard not to feel a twang of pain at hearing it aloud. The words replayed in his head as he drifted off, leaving his body behind as he faded into slumber.

"..._where ya been_..._Solo_...?"

* * *

**So that's chapter two. It's gunna take a while for three to be finished though, 'cause I suck at life. :/ ttfn: tata for now.**


	3. Chapter 3: I am here

_Chapter 3: I am here._

* * *

The next morning was presented to Duo with the smell of bacon, and the sound of fingers typing away on a laptop keyboard.

It took him a minute to think about where he was, just like yesterday morning, only this time, he was sure he wasn't where he was supposed to be. He distinctly remembered being in the bathroom last night, but not returning to bed.

He remembered waking up from a nightmare, and crying in the bathroom, and puking. And he remembered the haunting reflection in the mirror, watching him from behind. The soft smile on his dead friend's face. His eyes, and his hair. But that was impossible.

Duo wasn't one to believe in much, but he liked to think of himself as open minded, so anything was possible really. He believed that Solo had been watching out for him. No matter where life lead him, or what challenging endeavors fate brought for him, he was convinced that his old friend was always right there with him. But still, if Solo had really always been around, then why hadn't he shown himself before?

No. It was probably part of that nightmare. How else would he have ended up back in bed? He knew he didn't put himself there, and Heero most certainly wouldn't do it. So it must have been a dream.

And, somehow, that only made him feel worse.

The stinging of tears building up in his eyes was a reminder of the awful pit in his chest. He felt the insistent, aching need to cry, but knew, without opening his eyes, that Heero was in the room. He was not crying in front of the perfect soldier. Not now, not ever.

"Duo. Are you alright?"

_Well fuck..._

"Yeah man, I'm good..." Duo brushed off tiredly. He should have known that pretending to sleep wouldn't get him by for very long. Of course Heero noticed he was awake. He noticed everything. "Just trying to wake up... get my brain working right."

He sat up in his bed, and looked over toward the couch. Heero was turned around to look at him, and Duo casually rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes; wiping away the tears before the other could see. He played it off like he was groggily waking himself up by rubbing the sleep from his face. Then he smiled up at his stoic friend, and the other turned back to his laptop, and his breakfast of bacon and eggs.

"Think you can keep down some solid food today?" Heero questioned. Duo's smile broadened into a grin as he processed the question.

"Hell yeah, I can!" He exclaimed, throwing off his blankets and pouncing from his bed. "I'ma go make myself a royal _feast_! With pancakes, and eggs, and bacon, and sausage, and-"

"No you're not." Heero interrupted sternly. "You're going to sit back down, while I make the food."

"But, Heero, you don't understand! I'm going stir crazy in here!" Duo whined, throwing up his hands in exasperation.

"You've hardly been in here for a full twenty-four hours. I think you can survive another fifteen minutes, for food." Heero pointed out skeptically. He turned his head over towards Duo, and their gazes locked. Each searching closely for a waver in the other's stubborn demeanor. They stared each other down for a few minutes, each too prideful to back out.

"Ugh..." Duo huffed, walking back over to his bed, and climbing up onto the mattress again. He was much too exhausted, and that dream last night had done a number on him. He could feel his facade slipping, and the longer he tried to force it up with his care free grin and happy eyes, the quicker he could feel himself coming undone. He flopped down face first onto the bed, and lay there with a groan.

"Whatever, you win. I'm not losing anything from you cooking for me. Except maybe my life, if you decide I'm suddenly useless, and slip some poison into my breakfast... Promise me you won't do that. That would suck."

Heero saw the drastic switch in mood, and his mind instantly drew back to what happened last night. The sound of hiccuping cries, then the constant calling out for an unknown being in the dark. The memories were fresh, and swirled around in his skull like a tornado around his thoughts. He had to ask.

Duo could hear the click of a laptop being set down, and he assumed Heero had accepted the other's defeat, and was now heading down stairs to make his food. But, instead, he heard the sound of bare feet coming closer towards him, and felt the sinking of the mattress as another body of weight sat down on it.

"What ya want, bud?" Duo inquired, turning his head so his face wasn't buried in the blankets anymore. He looked up at Heero and noted the hint of wondering thought, and a contemplative curiosity sparking in his prussian blue eyes.

"What were you doing last night?"

At this Duo's heart paused momentarily. He could feel his muscles freeze up, and his blood run cold. He didn't want to think about it. About his horrible nightmare. "Sleeping. What do you think I was doing? I'm sick. I'm not gunna be sneakin' out to go party all night in the woods or anythin'."

"Duo, you passed out in the bathroom last night." Heero stated factually. Duo sat upright on the bed, looking at the other at eye level. "If something is bothering you, you should tell me."

Duo looked over at the bathroom door, not being able to take his eyes away from it in fear that the face of his friend would reappear, and he'd miss it. With a sigh, Duo reasoned with himself that it was probably a hallucination brought on by his illness. He smiled, looking at his lap, then let his eyes meet Heero's searching gaze.

"It was nothin'. My fever is just messin' with my head. Nothin' to worry about."

After the short explanation, Heero nodded acceptingly. Then he stood up, and left the room to go make his friend some breakfast, leaving his own, half eaten, on the coffee table in front of the couch.

Duo waited until Heero's footsteps were out of earshot, before standing from his bed, and gathering up some clothes for the day. As he scampered around the room, collecting his choice of clothing, he looked over at the half eaten breakfast, and, strangely enough, the cozy sofa pillows piled up at one end, and a blanket laying disheveled over the arm.

"Did he sleep in here?" Duo mumbled to himself, looking at all of the evidence left behind.

He had the strong urge to get into Heero's laptop, and see what it was the other was so utterly enthralled in. However, he decided against it as the drifting feeling of melancholy still weighed heavy on his chest. He just wasn't in the mood to get into too much mischief. Instead, he snatched a strip of bacon from Heero's plate, and stuck it in his mouth as he walked away from the couch.

He went into the bathroom and locked the door, before stripping himself of his clothes from yesterday. After unwrapping the bandages from around his middle, he turned on the shower head, and stood impatiently, outside the shower, as the water heated up. As he waited his eyes trailed the room until they rested on the spot where he had seen the apparition of his old friend standing.

The smallest of sad smiles tugged at his lips, and he drew his eyes away, stepping into the shower, and closing the glass door.

He just stood there for a while, feeling the water wash over him as he looked down and watched it pool at the shower floor, before it slipped down the drain.

Unbeknownst to his conscious mind, the tune he had been singing in his head turned to humming aloud. Then that turned to singing quietly. "_Oooh death... Oh death__...~_" Once he realized he was voicing the lyrics, he figured no one was around to hear him, so why stop? "_Oooh death... Won't you spare me over another year__..?~"_

His voice echoed off the walls, making the words sound more melodious, and surreal, as he hummed along to the rhythm between the lyrics. "_Hmm hmm hmm... But what is this, that I can't see... with ice cold hands taking hold of me..?~ Hmm hmm hmm...~" _

As he began to clean himself, he became lost in his own singing. He'd lost track of time, and, unknowingly, he finished singing the short song, and picked it up again from the beginning. He'd finished, and restarted the song multiple times before he deemed himself fit to turn off the water and step out of the shower.

.:(GW):.

Heero returned to the room a good twenty minutes later, plate full of five over easy eggs, and a few strips of bacon. Before opening the door he noted the sound of running water, so he guessed Duo had gotten into the shower. He shut the door behind him as he walked in, setting the plate down on the coffee table beside his own as he got closer to the couch.

Then he heard singing.

His attention snapped up to the bathroom door. From behind the wooden barrier, and over the sound of water raining down onto hard shower flooring, the well known voice of 02 rang out in a vibrant hum. _"__No wealth, no ruin, no silver, no gold... Nothing satisfies me, but your soul...~ Hmm hmm hmm..." _

Heero sat down on the couch. A ding chimed from the speakers of his laptop, trying to alert him of a message, but he wasn't paying attention. Listening intently to the song Duo sang. _"...Well, I am death. None can excel... I'll open the door to Heaven or Hell... Oooh death...~" _There was a short pause where there were no words, but calm, soothing hums. Heero found himself leaning back into the couch, and relaxing a bit as the voice continued to seep under the door, and into his ears.

It was almost shocking to hear Duo's voice taking on such an uncharacteristic, serious tone. And what an exotic tone it was. It was foreign, and new, and, if he were to be quite honest with himself, it was something he wouldn't mind listening to again. _"...Oooh death... My name is death, and the end is here...~"_

Then the water was turned off, and the sound of wet feet padding against foggy tiled floor filled the bathroom, along with the quiet humming. Soft shuffling was heard, before the doorknob was jingled, and the door flew open. A, now clean, Duo Maxwell stepped out of the bathroom wearing only a pair of black briefs. A pair of blue jeans and a wad of gauze were tucked under one arm, while the other held a towel, that was being used to dry his hair.

As soon as the door was open, making Heero's quiet presence known to the other, Duo instantly stopped his humming. He walked over to the couch with a wide grin, hoping the water was loud enough to mask his singing voice, but knew that was only wishful thinking. Heero wasn't the kind of guy to laugh at him for anything like that, but it was still embarrassing, in an awkward sort of way.

"Oh, thank you, saint! _Food_!" Duo shouted, throwing his clothes and towel on the couch beside him. Hastily, he pulled on his jeans before digging in.

Heero stared at the other as he ate, watching as he shoveled the food into his mouth, like he hadn't had a decent meal in weeks. Which could have possibly been the case, if not for the chicken noodle soup last night.

He watched how the other's muscles moved, as he brought the food from the plate to his mouth. He watched the careful way Duo held himself, making sure he didn't bend over too far, or do anything at all to aggravate his injury. He watched as uncaught droplets of water slid down still damp copper hair, and clung to the tips before falling onto the couch below. Taking in the pleased smile on the other's face, and the grateful hum of delight, Heero let his curiosity, once more today, take voice.

"Who's Solo?"

At the unexpected question, Duo choked mid swallow, coughing and spluttering as he reeled back from his surprise.

Once his breath was evened out, and his food was swallowed down, he raised startled violet eyes to look at his friend in shock. "What..?"

"I asked you who Solo is." Heero stated, looking back into wide amethyst eyes with his ever blank, expressionless face. They were both quiet for a moment, simply staring each other down before Duo's eyes grew dark, narrowing down in suspicion.

"How the hell do you know about him?" Duo demanded, almost seething at the other in a defensive tone. "There are no records or files on him, in _any_ known data base. I've checked! So how do you know about him?"

"I don't." Heero replied, trying to simmer the other down. It was like a switch had been flipped and the other had gone feral. "You were calling for him last night, in your sleep."

Another lapse of silence enveloped the room, as Duo slowly turned away, hanging his head to look down at his feet.

"Oh..."

"I apologize if I brought up an unpleasant matter. I only wanted to know who he was. If he's close to you, then he could jeopardize our missions." Heero reasoned, still looking at the American bread teen beside him. "Or he could end up getting killed. You should know better than to keep others close." That made Duo chuckle lightly.

Yeah, he knew better than anyone not to keep someone close to him. No matter who they were -how strong they are, or how bright and invincible they may seem to be- no one can stay close to death and expect to escape it for long. Father Maxwell. Sister Helen. All the sick children, from his orphan-street rat days.

_Solo._

He should have known better.

"He uh..." Duo exhaled, sniffling and scratching the back of his head awkwardly. If Heero suspected his mission was at stake, then he wouldn't stop asking about it until he was sure it wasn't a threat. So it was either now, or later. "He... he _was_ a friend. A good friend." He trailed off, thinking back on the days he'd spent at the other's side. "We used to be close."

Duo stood from the couch, and took his towel and gauze with him as he started walking back towards the bathroom. There was still food left on his plate, but his appetite had dissipated.

Heero let his eyes follow him until he stopped in the bathroom doorway, turning back around to let deep amethyst eyes lock onto cobalt blue. "Hey, Heero."

Heero gave a small noise of acknowledgment, and Duo continued. "Don't ask me about him again."

Then he disappeared into the spacious bathroom.

Being completely honest, Heero was a bit stunned. Never had he seen the other act so serious about something before. Whoever this guy was, he must have been important to the braided former pilot. He felt a slight pang of something tugging at his chest. It was probably guilt. He knew the feeling of guilt well. After killing innocence -that life changing little girl and her puppy- a few years back, it was hard to ignore the feeling that gnawed at his stomach like a feral beast.

He thought about how he would feel if someone had directly asked him about Odin. Something like that brought up the harsh times that just about anyone would rather leave in the past. And he had just unknowingly dredged up the murky wreckage of Duo's earlier years. He couldn't possibly empathize with the other's feelings, but he knew he had hurt him. That was enough to make him get up, and follow his friend into the bathroom.

Quietly, Heero walked up behind the other. Duo's fingers gripped at the flat surface of white granite that made up the sink counter. He didn't turn around to look at Heero, only stared down into the drain of the sink, like _it_ had somehow harmed his emotions, instead of the stoic teen behind him.

"What do you want?" Duo asked, violet eyes never leaving the drain, or lowering in their volume of distress.

"To say I'm sorry."

Heero wasn't ever any good with personal talk. The concept of being considerate towards other people's feelings was lost to him. But, right now, he was under the impression that an apology was most likely in order.

"For what? You didn't do anything." Duo said with a dry chuckle. He tilted his head down a little more causing damp coppery brown strands of hair to fall over his shoulders and into his face. "You were just worried about the mission. Making sure I wasn't stupid enough to keep possible liabilities around. You can't be sorry for that."

Heero came to stand by Duo's side, and leaned down to bring himself to the level of Duo's slightly hunched over position. He pulled back the curtain of long brown hair from Duo's face, only taking in the other's morose expression for a small span of seconds. Unique American violets blinked up to glance at him in a cross between false irritation, and slight depression.

"I can be sorry for making you upset." Heero stated blankly, yet the undertone was laced with something akin to gentleness, and slight genuine regret.

Duo sighed and stood up straighter. He brushed his bangs back out of his face, and looked up at his friend again. Cobalt blue stayed locked on his every move, almost tentative in making sure he hadn't said something wrong again.

"Alright." The shorter teen slightly huffed. "I just... I'm serious. We don't talk about it. Ever."

Heero nodded in understanding.

"Good."

There was a string of moments where neither of them said anything, or moved. Then, having released a deep breath and regained his composure, Duo pulled up his hair in one hand, holding it up to keep it out of the way as he bandaged himself up. It was a hell of a lot more complicated to bandage his wounds with only one arm, but he sure wasn't about to ask Heero for help after practically biting his head off for nothing.

Except it wasn't nothing. It was personal, and it _hurt_, and Heero wasn't supposed to know about it. Nobody was. It was no one else's business what had happened in his past.

He wound his long damp hair around his arm and held it up above his head, then he flicked at the wad of bandages, making them unravel to the floor. He had been doing well on his own, like he had done the day before. The first end of it was held to his chest with his underarm, and he used the other to circle it around himself, wedging the cloth between his torso and underarm so it would stay in place.

He had been doing fine, until the third circle, when the other teen stepped up behind him.

Heero took the bandages from 02, wedging his hand between Duo's side and his arm to let the bandages fall lose.

"Dude, what the hell?" The agitated teen complained. Heero didn't pay his words any attention, only focusing on picking up the fallen end of the bandages and redoing them himself.

"You were wrapping them too tight. If you're not bandaging yourself properly you could end up with bruised ribs." Heero explained, picking up a stray strand of copper brown hair and lifting it up to Duo's hand. He tucked the wayward piece under one of the other's fingers. "Just hold still."

"I could do it fine on my own." Duo huffed, frustrated at seeming so helpless that his friend would force his assistance upon him.

Heero didn't respond. He only continued bandaging the slightly smaller teen, his arms winding around Duo's torso and back again to pass the gauze along.

Once the wound was properly bandaged up Duo dropped his hair, allowing it to fall to his shoulders and along his back. He bit his lip and raised a brow at his reflection, hand raised up to toy with a piece of hair by his ear. He tried to ignore how awkward it was having Heero still standing so close to him while he twisted the strand of hair around his finger a few times.

"Where did I put the brush?" He asked absentmindedly, more to himself then his friend who was still standing uncomfortably close behind him.

A second later Heero was out of the bathroom, and Duo couldn't decide weather he was grateful, or disappointed by the sudden lack of his friend's former closeness. He opened a drawer to see if he'd put the hairbrush back in it after using it last, but there was only a blank space, drawer left empty.

Duo pouted at his reflection briefly before his attention was drawn to Heero's voice, calling him back into the bedroom.

Peeking around the doorway, Duo could see that the other teen had found the previously lost brush, and was sitting on the couch, finishing his breakfast.

"Huh." Duo huffed, walking across the room and back over to the couch. "Where'd ya find it?"

"Dresser."

"Oh yeah." He mumbled, sitting down and picking up the brush from the coffee table.

He raised his arm to stretch over his head, brushing out the knots that had formed in his long brown hair. The stretching of is arms put strain on his injury, making him hiss quietly at the stinging. He kept on, however, not wanting his hair to dry all tangled up like it was.

When the almost completely inconspicuous winces, and slight noises of discomfort happened just a little too often, Heero became fed up quickly. He put his now cleaned plate down, and snatched the brush from the other's hands. Duo growled lightly at the action, turning to lay narrowed violet eyes on him.

"You need to stop doing that."

"If I'd asked for it, you would have said no."

"So what? You can't just go around taking things from people whenever you feel like it. I can do it myself!"

"You were struggling. Now turn around." Heero commanded, voice flat and expression hard, as usual.

Duo was about to argue. Instead, he decided it would be best to let the other do what he wanted. So with an irritated huff, Duo scooted around on the couch, faced his back towards Heero, and brought his legs up to cross on the plush cushions.

Heero grabbed a fist full of the chestnut locks and brought the brush through it, teeth untangling the pieces of hair as it went. Duo found himself hissing once or twice when a particular knot was being stubborn, or Heero decided to pull a little too hard. Each time the more stoic teen would pull his hands back quickly, only to return them seconds later to their work.

The brushing was careful, and also very soothing. It had gone on for a little over half an hour, and weather it be from the plentiful abundance of Duo's hair, or the fact that he was secretly enjoying this a little, Heero couldn't tell you. What he could tell you, though, was that the injured teen in front of him had evened out his breathing and was beginning to nod off to sleep.

Once he was fully asleep, head propped against the back of the couch, Heero found himself wondering how the other could be so careless. Simply falling asleep anywhere -around just anyone- could be fatal, and even though he'd known Duo for quite a while, he still couldn't think about letting his guard down around him like that.

Absentmindedly, he continued brushing the other's hair long after it was dry and knot free. He even ended up dividing it into three separate lengths, twisting them all together until they made up the familiar braid that Duo tended to sport. It didn't really occur to him that he didn't have to put the other's hair up for him, because he was almost lost in his own thoughts as he did it. It was like he was moving on autopilot, not fully realizing what he was doing as he was doing it.

After the braid was firmly held in place at the end, Heero got up from the couch and guided Duo's unconscious body to lie on it's side. He sat at Duo's feet and turned on the T.V., not knowing what else to do with his day.

.:(GW):.

It took a good solid two hours before Duo opened his eyes again. When he did, the first things that registered were the sound of voices from the T.V., and an odd kink in his neck from sleeping at an angle. Drowsily, he sat up, wiping his tired eyes and pulling his feet out from under Heero's leg, where they had dug underneath in search of warmth.

He grumbled loudly at the fact that he was awake, feeling like he should drop back down and close his eyes again, but also feeling like he needed to be up and alert.

Duo noticed his hair wasn't free and all over the place, like it was when he fell asleep, and he grabbed the base of his braid, pulling his hair over his shoulder. What he saw was a black strip of cloth -originally designated to holding the room's curtains back- wrapped tightly around the tail of his braid to tie it in place. He turned to the other teen in the room, who had yet to acknowledge his consciousness, with a sincere inquisitive stare.

"Did you braid my hair?" The younger asked, head tilted slightly in his confusion.

"That's a stupid question. _You_ most certainly didn't do it." Heero stated, not taking his eyes from the T.V.

There was a high pitched trill crying from the surround sound speakers. It was quiet, the volume having been turned down so that Duo's sleep wouldn't be disturbed, but it was there. A shiver ran up Duo's spine at the sound and he turned to the screen to see, what he assumed to be, a woman. All of her flesh had been peeled away and she was left an angry red lump of frayed nerves. Her screams and shrieks were unsettling in the most, unfortunately, familiar way.

Heero Yui was watching Hellraiser.

"Ugh. This is a terrible movie." Duo griped, turning his wounded eyes from the overly gruesome scene.

"I agree. If this is some excuse of torture, it is poorly executed. Ripping a person's flesh away would undoubtedly send them into shock, and make the process quicker, and numb for the victim. They would be brain dead in minutes."

The female on the screen continued to scream, and it was starting to become a bit too much.

"Can you _please_ change the channel? This is agony to my ears!" The younger whined, covering his ears with his hands as he threw himself back down into the couch.

Heero plucked the remote from the surface of the coffee table and punched in a few numbers. The movie went off, and was switched to something else. Duo recovered from his pathetic hiding, and looked over at Heero with a small smirk.

"Thank you."

"Shouldn't you be accustomed to the sounds of torture by now, _Death_?" Heero asked. Was that a hint of teasing in his voice?

"I'm the fucking Grim Reaper. Of course I'm used to the horrible cries of the dying, but Hellraiser is just too overblown. It's sickening." Duo reasoned, sitting up and crossing his arms over his chest. "A feeling _you_ probably wouldn't know of, Mr. Perfect."

"Hn."

Duo looked over at the back of the couch to see the blankets there again, carelessly draped over the side. His train of thought from earlier came back to the front of his mind and he looked back at Hero with confused, narrowed brows.

"Did you sleep in here last night?"

"Yes."

"Why? Did you forget somethin' in here, and just decide not to go back to your own room or...?" Duo trailed off, not able to think of a reason for Heero to pass up his own bed in his own room, for a couch in Duo's. A comfy ass couch, he might add, but a couch all the same opposed to an even more comfortable bed.

"You were acting up last night. I stayed to be sure you didn't do it again."

"Oh." They were left in a shallow silence. It stretched on for a long moment until Duo's train of thought took another direction. "You said I was passed out in the bathroom earlier?"

"Hn." Heero hummed, not paying the other much attention anymore.

Duo asked slowly, looking down at his lap and twiddling his fingers like they were hypnotizing trinkets. "Did you happen to see anyone else in there with me?"

Then he'd realized what he'd asked, and he clamped his mouth shut, nails digging into his legs.

Heero's attention snapped back up fully towards the braided teen in what almost appeared to be alarm.

"Did someone infiltrate our housing and attack last night? If so, why didn't you notify me of this immediately?" Heero demanded, fixing Duo with a steady, impassive glare.

"No! No. No. No." Duo defended, throwing his hands up to show surrender, half expecting the sociopathic teen to attack. "Nothing like that. It's just..."

He trailed off, hands falling tentatively back to his sides as he looked back down at his lap.

What was he supposed to say? _Heero, I'm pretty sure my long deceased best friend is here and was totally creeping on me in my bathroom last night._

Hah! Yeah, that'll definitely persuade him._ No, Heero. Really. I'm not crazy. I saw him in my mirror._

"You know what, never mind. Nothing happened. I was just delirious from the fever." Duo waved off, twiddling his fingers again.

"You're sure our position isn't, in any way, compromised?" Heero asked, wanting to know without a shadow of a doubt that the two of them were safe.

"Positive." Duo smiled. But it didn't reach his eyes.

Heero didn't seem to care much, but in reality, he was just about to ask the other why he seemed so defeated. That's when the power gave out. The TV, the lamps, even Heero's laptop shut down. Everything went dark.

A sharp piercing ache struck Duo in the direct center of his head, making him whine in pain as he doubled over on himself, clutching at his head to try and protect himself from the hurt.

A shrill, screeching cry assaulted his ears, making him yelp in pain, and throw himself down to curl up on the cushions. The noise was bone chilling, and nerve wracking, like a vicious dog whistle stabbing into his eardrums like needles.

He covered his ears tightly, feeling like they'd burst and bleed if he were to let go. The sound went on and on for what seemed like a half hour, but was really no more than two minutes. He was almost wishing he'd go deaf soon from the assault to his eardrums, now feeling like his skull was a little too small from his pulsing headache.

He whined and groaned, cowering inward on himself even more to hide from the noise. His elbows and knees held him up shakily, face pressed into the couch with his back fully exposed, like a turtle's protective shell.

The noise only grew louder, and louder; the stinging burn in his head growing unbearable with intensity. He was sure his skull would split open if it continued any longer.

Just as he released another choked whimper, the noise grew so loud that he couldn't even hear it. It was like feeling something so cold that it burned like fire.

Everything was silent. Then a voice spoke up. It was a young voice, yet strong, and determined. It's tone was that of an offended boy who was arguing to defend himself from whatever offensive thing had irked him. Duo knew this voice all too well.

_"I **am** here."_

That was Solo's voice.

There was no mistaking it.

Then the noise came back, loud as ever in full force, but it died down after a few seconds. He was left in paralyzed shock. His senses were returning to him slowly, like he'd just passed out and was struggling to keep a foothold on reality. The first thing that registered to him was that the terrible noise was gone, but everything was left deathly quiet and still. He could hear Heero's voice calling to him, but it was bleary and mottled, like he were listening to him underwater.

The next thing that clicked to his attention was the other's hands on his shoulders, pulling him to sit upright again, and shaking him to draw him out of whatever trance like state he'd fallen into.

"Duo. What's wrong? Respond!" His voice was flat as ever, but insistent.

Duo's entire frame was shaking, rattled to the core by whatever had just happened inside his head.

And it had been _just in his head_. Otherwise Heero would have heard it too.

"N-nothing.." Duo said, slowly moving his hands away from his ears. "I just... I think..." He stammered over his words, the syllables not working well at getting passed his trembling lips.

His eyes flickered up to Heero's, but he would draw them away, having trouble finding something to train his attention on. But one thought remained persistent, and at the forefront of his aching mind.

He felt sick.

"I think I need to lay down." Then his stomach lurched.

Duo ripped free of Heero's arms, and threw himself from the couch to run to the bathroom before his guts spilled all over the floor.

* * *

**Okay, so this took forever to write. It's not all that great, and every time I wrote something I'd get board of it and rewrite it again. This was a process. Good _lord_ I need to go to bed.**


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